The Enemy of my Enemy is my Significant Other
by FanFictionist1
Summary: There's a match for everyone. Chopper and Celtic are about to find out that Scar isn't the only one who's going to meet his in the pyramid. Three women to match three young yautja. On top of that, their quest to get back to their homes. What could go wrong? Everything. . .
1. Lex Meets the Oddballs

When Alexa Woods came aboard the Piper Maru, she didn't expect the strange adventure Mr. Weyland would present to her. She certainly didn't expect them to be so insistent that she lead the team. And she certainly didn't expect to say she'd do it after she found out just how risky it would be.

She found to her dismay that she had to add to that growing list of surprises that she didn't expect. Starting with the diversity of the crew.

Everyone seemed to be pulled from all over the place. If their skin coloring didn't give a hint of their origins, their individual accents certainly did. Lex was pleased with the diversity she found in the group. Her past experiences of leading other teams on the ice had proven to her that diversity meant survival and less social barriers. She could laugh and bond easier with a group of people who came from different aspects of life more than she could with people who all seemed to originate from the same place. Their differences also meant they brought their individual knowledge with them as well. Lex had found that she had learned just as much from her teams as they did from her while on the ice.

Though she had to admit, this one woman took the cake concerning diversity.

Lex was ashamed to admit that she had suddenly stared at the woman when presentations of persons were being done. She didn't mean to, but it happened.

The woman in front of her had to be four feet tall. Maybe a couple inches more. Lex had to rationalize with her brain that this was in fact ****not**** a child standing in front of her. She could only convince herself of this when she observed that the woman's hips, thighs, and bottom at least were too developed to be a child's.

Lex was shaken out of her stupor when she realized the woman had been talking to her.

"I'm sorry. What did you say again?" Lex asked with immense embarrassment. Her cheeks colored red as she realized how rude she had just been.

The woman sighed. "It's my height, isn't it." Her tone conveyed that she wasn't really asking a question despite the wording. It was obvious this wasn't the first time this had happened to her.

Lex tried to recover herself. "No, no! It's just-" She paused when she realized it was useless to lie. Her shoulders slightly slumped in defeat. "Yeah. . .I'm sorry. That was incredibly rude of me to-" "No, it's ok." The woman interrupted. "I would rather take shocked silence than an immediate comment."

Lex tilted her head at her and rose an eyebrow. "May I ask why?" The woman shrugged, but answered. "If I get an immediate comment, it's usually never nice. People tend to get snarky when they spot the obvious physical flaws in a person. I've received plenty of crap from people who instantly think it's ok to harass me just because I'm not on their height level."

Lex frowned. "I'm sorry."

The woman shook her head. "Don't be. At least you're being polite and honest right now. That's more than I've gotten some times."

An awkward silence filled the space between them before Lex finally broke it. "Umm. . .what were you saying earlier again?" She asked, still sheepish. The woman's demeanor changed to something a little more cheerful. "Oh! I was introducing myself. My name is Lucinda Mild. I'm a Forensic Pathologist." She explained.

Lex held out her hand in official and friendly greeting. "Hello Lucinda. I'm-" "Alexa Woods." Lucinda finished for her. "Mr. Weyland gave us quite an impression of you when he called you out back there in the meeting." Alexa chuckled. "A good impression I hope?" She asked. Lucinda nodded. "A very professional one. Trust me, you're not the only one who had doubts when he said the time limit you had to teach us on how to navigate the ice. We were impressed when you told him straight that it wasn't enough time."

Alexa frowned. "I don't mean to scare anyone." She said. Lucinda shook her head.

"Dangerous terrain was included in the job description. The time limit doesn't change what we signed up for." Lucinda shrugged it off. Lex nodded her head in relief.

Lucinda looked at her watch. "Well I'm off. Dinner's waiting for me in my cabin." She said excitedly. Alexa chuckled again. "Well then it was a pleasure meeting you Lucinda. Have a nice night and dinner!" She shook her hand again. Lucinda smiled. "Please. Call me Luci. And it was a pleasure meeting you too." She said as she walked off while waving goodbye.

Alexa waved back and turned to go find her personal cabin as well.

She was glad that she was making some friends quickly on this trip.

* * *

On the way to her cabin, Lex had to pass through the hall that housed main office. In doing so, Lex saw someone step ****out**** of said office.

Lex once again found herself momentarily stunned by what she saw.

It was a woman carrying a large, extremely bulging bag that was the same height as her back. But that wasn't what shocked Lex. What shocked her was the woman's immense height! She easily breached seven feet tall, with several inches to spare!

Lex made a gasping sound and the woman turned around to look at her.

Ok, forget Lucinda. This woman now really did take the cake! She was the complete opposite of Lucinda!

Her skin was not one color. Lex found that she somehow had patches of sun-tanned white skin that was sharing space with patches of milky brown skin. Her face was almost split in half between the two colors, except the brown coloring of her skin curved around her chin and forehead and sort of resembled a dark, splotchy crescent moon forming on the left side of her face. This phenomenon traveled down her neck and Lex didn't have to guess that the same mesh of colors spotted the rest of her body. To top it off, this woman had curves a plenty that sat on top of lean, almost bulging muscles. Those muscles seemed to flex even when in rest.

Maybe it was just the confident way the woman held herself, but Lex thought this was what the body of a Goddess would look like if one ever stood in her presence. . .well, maybe less chaos with the skin coloring. But you get what she meant.

The woman smiled sunnily at her, clearly not perturbed by Lex's blatant staring.

"Alexa Woods, right?" She asked, starting the introductions for them. Lex shook herself once more out of her shock. She hesitantly nodded and the woman held her hand out in friendly greeting.

"Hello! I'm Athena Goodwill." She continued to smile.

Lex decided that she liked her friendly nature, and gladly shook her hand. She found herself apologizing again. "I'm sorry for staring." She said. Athena shrugged. "It's alright. I'm used to it." She continued to smile. Lex couldn't help but smile back and then she looked back over at the bag. "That must weigh a ton." She said.

Athena nodded. "Yeah, but it's my on-the-go medic supplies." She said with a shrug. She seemed to shrug a lot. At least it let Alexa know she was a relaxed person. "You're our medic?" Lex asked curiously. Athena made a so-so motion. "I'm mostly Mr. Weyland's personal medic and bodyguard. I will be assisting the team, but he's my top priority if the need arises." She explained.

"I see." Alexa said as she looked at the door leading to his office.

Athena nodded. "Yep!" She said cheerfully. "So are you enjoying yourself so far?" She asked. Lex turned her head back to look at Athena. "So far, yes. Haven't gotten to try the food yet." she admitted, though she meant it more as a joke. Athena chuckled. "Well you should. It's delicious. I'll admit that I've been bribed before to stay on the team purely for the food alone." She said with an unrepentant grin.

Lex cocked her head but smiled at her. "You've been working for Weyland for a while?" She asked. Athena nodded. "Going on four years." She said proudly. Lex smiled at her obvious pleasure in that fact. "May I ask, what's Mr. Weyland like?" Lex proceeded. Athena pulled a face that said she was thinking about her answer. "More stubborn than a mule." She finally replied. "I've had to butt heads with that man before over several things. But he's got a good heart and good intentions. He just has a hard time accepting a 'No' from anyone when he knows his ambitions are possible."

Lex made a roll of her eyes that was directed at the office door. "I could figure that out within five minutes of meeting him." She said, though she meant it light heartedly. Athena chuckled.

"Like I said, stubborn. But in his defense, he is one of the most humane millionaires you might ever meet. The guy may be hard headed, but he's got a heart of gold. He looks out for his own. He's saved my skin plenty of times." Athena added.

Alexa nodded and processed this information.

"Anything I should be aware of about him?" Lex asked. Athena smirked. "Don't ever take the last slice of chocolate cake. He nearly had a guy jailed for 'stealing' his slice."

"I heard that!" Weyland called out from his office. Athena smiled at the door. "It's true and you know it!" She shouted back playfully. The door opened and Weyland stepped outside. "It was an expensive cake! Besides, he did steal it. It was clearly being sent up to my office." He defended.

Athena rolled her eyes but chuckled. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say boss." She smiled. Lex noticed that Weyland automatically smiled back at her and Lex couldn't help but get a father-daughter vibe from them. Maybe more grandfather to granddaughter type.

Mr. Weyland shook his head but chuckled. "You ladies scamper off. You're disturbing my concentration." He chided teasingly. Athena smiled and did a mock salute at him before turning to Lex.

"It was nice to meet you Lex. I'll see you again later." She said. Lex nodded in return. "And I to you. Goodbye Athena."

Both girls departed and left Mr. Weyland alone to shake his head at the both of them.

* * *

 _ ** **Author's note: First fanfiction that wasn't a SasuSaku one. Let's see how this goes. Comment your thoughts, questions, and anything else. I enjoy feedback.****_


	2. Young Boys Are Very Impatient

Aboard a large ship out in space, three tribal fighting masks were being prepped and programmed with all of the information three young Yautja would need for their ****Chiva****.

Meanwhile, those three young Yautja were sparing in their ****kehrite****. Several dummies were set up for their practice and several moor littered the ground in ruins.

One such predator, his name being Scar, at first watched as his two other brothers in arms went at each other. He knew their wrestling was purely for training, but there was an obvious tension between the two as they tried to clobber each other to the ground.

Celtic, the second tallest Yautja of the three, was slowly being pinned to the ground by Chopper, who was using his hunting experience to his advantage.

Scar was the tallest of the three. At 7 feet and 8 inches, he barely passed over the other two's heads. He didn't boast this fact at them, though he did poke fun at them for this whenever they were getting on his nerves. The majority of the time, he was quiet and reserved. He preferred to listen and be aware of his surroundings whenever possible. Though this fact made it surprising whenever new people found out he had a mischievous side. He was a young prankster at heart and often got away with it for good behavior.

Celtic was a different matter all together. Pompous, vain and proud, he was 7 feet 5 inches tall and gladly lorded this fact over Chopper whenever he could. He was only taller than Chopper by a half an inch, but that didn't stop him from acting superior. His pride and ego were big, even among the yautja species. Being older than his other two teammates, he unofficially stepped up as their leader when they were first paired together. He was also physically stronger and faster than the other two, despite even being shorter than Scar. He used this strength often times to subdue the other two if they ever stood against him and his decisions on a matter. Sadly, his ego often made him clumsy. He had unwillingly substituted grace and precision for brute strength.

Chopper was the shortest of them all, though not by much.

Being the shortest and the youngest, he was often harassed by Celtic about it. Scar never taunted him for it, for which he was grateful. He had an ongoing power struggle with Celtic that surfaced a good deal of them time when they were together. Though Celtic was taller and stronger, Chopper had his own reason to boast against him. Unlike Celtic, Chopper had actually gone on a hunt before. Not a Chiva, sadly. He wasn't old enough until now to go on one. But he had hunted on earth before. The two human skulls that were attached to his armor back in his room attested to that.

He gladly shoved this fact in Celtic's face whenever he could. He knew it hit a nerve that he, the youngest, had already gone on a real hunt. Not just one but two! Celtic was always sour about that fact and vowed that he could easily beat Chopper by killing a ****kiande amedha**** first. Chopper just rolled his eyes whenever he said this.

Chopper never had to boast this against Scar. He was happy that Scar not only respected him for his kills, but never acted jealous or spiteful because of it. In fact, the two acted like they were real brothers more than anything. Chopper always brought out Scar's mischievous side whenever they were together, and the two had gotten into trouble together more times than he could count.

Even with their differences and flaws, the three had to admit that they were a good team. They often had each other's backs when one messed up.

That is, if they were around each other at the time to fix the mess.

Celtic gave Chopper a vicious glare from the ground as he was successfully pinned. Chopper's mandibles clicked rapidly to show his laughter as he kept Celtic pinned. "Get off." Celtic growled, lower mandibles flaring in aggression. Chopper did his yautja chuckle again and finally got up, extending a hand out to help Celtic up. "Come on ****tarei hsan.**** " He said jokingly. "You finally lasted longer than five minutes."

Celtic shot his hand out and yanked Chopper to the floor. He landed with a vicious thud while Celtic stood up and stomped away, irritated.

Despite his aggression, Chopper laughed at Celtic from the floor and Scar let out a quiet chuckle as well. Both unbloodeds shared a look of humor while Celtic sat down on some stairs with a heavy thud and glared at both of them as he grabbed a towel like cloth and dabbed at his sweat with it.

"Are our masks done yet?" He asked Scar, hoping to shrug off his embarrassing defeat. Scar shook his head, having gone in to check before hand. "The ****Oomans**** haven't entered the temple yet." He said. "The holograph is still being recorded. And the translator is barely being transferred."

Celtic's mandibles twitched rapidly as he groaned in annoyance. "What's taking them so long?" He demanded.

Scar shrugged. "It looks like they're taking a ****ju'dha**** vessel to the destination." He replied. "It's breaking apart the ice as they go."

Celtic's head cocked to one side. "They have ****vayuh'ta**** vessels yet they take a ju'dha ship?" He asked in a condescending voice. Of all species, human logic escaped him.

Chopper spoke up from where he was still sitting on the floor.

"They have vayuh'ta vessels, but they're small and don't hold sufficient ****mi****. Their ju'dha ships are significantly larger and can hold all of their equipment along with themselves."

Celtic grunted but didn't say anything back. He knew Chopper had more experience with the humans and didn't want to seem foolish if he challenged his knowledge and was proven wrong.

"What's our hunting terrain going to be?" Celtic asked Scar, hoping he had seen it when he went to check the masks.

"A lot of ****bhu'ja ju'dha.**** " He finally replied. Chopper nodded his head. He wanted to reply that it was called snow by the oomans, but decided he had irritated Celtic enough with his knowledge.

Celtic's mandibles drooped slightly from hearing this, the yautja version of a frown. He hated the cold. Experienced it once and vowed he never wanted to hunt in it if he didn't have to. Sadly, he now had to for his Chiva, of all things.

"How close are we to landing?" Celtic asked.

"Close enough that you three better go get your ****awu'asa**** on." Came a fourth voice.

Immediately, all three unbloodeds jumped up and bowed their heads while lowering their eyes towards the fourth voice.

" ** **N'jauka yin'tekai**** Elder." All three greeted with absolute respect.

" ** **Ki'cte.**** " He replied to them. The three lifted their heads, now having permission to meet his eyes. The skin flaps between the elders mandibles widened upwards, signifying that he was smiling.

" ** **Ch'hkt-a****?" He asked. The three nodded their heads excitedly. He chuckled at them.

"Then go get dressed. The oomans have arrived."

The three unblooded couldn't have left the room faster.

* * *

 _ **Author's note**_ _: Translation time!_

-Chiva: Trial.

- ** **kehrite:**** training room

- ** **kiande amedha:**** Hard meat/ xenomorph

- ** **tarei hsan:**** unworthy opponent

- ** **Oomans:**** Humans

- ** **ju'dha:**** water

- ** **vayuh'ta:**** air

- ** **mi:**** fuel

- ** **bhu'ja ju'dha:**** Ghost water/ snow ( _Bhu'ja and ju'dha are two separate words, but I combined them and decided that was going to be snow._ )

- ** **awu'asa**** : Armor

- ** **N'jauka:**** Welcome

- ** **yin'tekai**** : honor

- ** **Ki'cte:**** Enough

- ** **Ch'hkt-a:**** excited/nervous/agitated

 _I'm sorry if having so many of the yautja's native language vocab in there irritated you. But at the same time, realistically they would be speaking their own language amongst themselves and I wanted their interactions to be realistic._


	3. Embarking

The Piper Maru had just barely docked by the ice when the team was already out and testing the icy landscape of Bouvet Island. Lex was close by to , and in turn, close by Athena, who refused to leave his side. When the team found the abandoned whaling station, Lex declared that they'd set up base there.

Despite her warning of never going anywhere alone, several of the team wandered off to explore the houses and buildings there.

She couldn't stay mad at them though. Their wondering is how they found an entrance to the pyramid in the first place. It was first discovered by a member who noticed a particularly shaped almost cut out hole in a house, despite it nearly being in a collapsed heap. This in turn made that member look over and spot the giant hole in the ice. Newly sent satellite pictures showed that it led all the way to the pyramid.

"There's no team on earth who has a drill powerful enough to get to that depth within 24 hours!" Rusten Quinn, leader of the drill team, declared.

Weyland opted to go down and see who else was there. Lucinda piped up from the back when she heard this. "Wait! What if they try to kill us?!" She shouted over the sound of the raging snow. All turned to look at her and parted as she made her way towards the front. Weyland looked down at her, but prompted her to speak. "What do you mean?" He asked.

Lucinda continued. "Think about it. Whoever is down there somehow has a drill that can cut through Ice in less than 24 hours. If that's just a drill, imagine the weapons they'll have. Not to mention, we're not in civilization anymore. There's no police, guards, cameras, or even trained dogs to help us if whoever caused this hole decided they didn't want competition with the pyramid discovery. There's no one who would willingly come out here and search for our missing remains if we got disposed of."

This knowledge sent the team on edge, and Weyland wasn't having it.

"If there is another team down there with powerful new weapons and bad intentions, then I say it's our duty to take their weapons away and secure the discovery." He replied. "Now, let's get the equipment in and get down there." That was the end of it.

Lucinda bit her slowly cracking lip as the team dispersed. Lex placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for trying to convince him anyway." Lucinda nodded at her and shivered from the sudden gust of wind on her back. Lex looked back at the team as the sled was slowly being prepped to be lowered down the hole. She tried to smile at Luci.

"Look at the bright side. There'll be no wind down the tunnel." Luci gave a weak chuckle and nodded at Lex as both women went to join the rest of the crew.

* * *

The team's confusion doubled as they reached the bottom. There was no pieces of equipment around the area or even signs life! No foot prints from previous persons, nothing.

Lex had let out a flare that flashed above the temple and illuminated it for them all to see.

The team journeyed forward until they reached the entrance. Athena pulled Mr. Weyland aside to have him take his medicine in private. While the team was busy setting up equipment by the entrance, Lex noticed the oxygen tank Mr. Weyland was breathing through as Athena held a stethoscope over his lungs.

Slowly, Lex made her way towards him.

When he noticed her approach, he gave a sigh of submission and waved her the rest of the way forward. When by his side, he set the tank down and looked up at her. "Please, don't tell the rest of the team about this. It'll make them worry more than they have to." He pleaded. Lex frowned and looked at Athena, who looked at her as well. The cheerful Athena had a worried look in her eyes as she pointedly directed her attention back at Weyland and then at Lex again.

They clearly had a reason to be worried.

"Mr. Weyland." Lex softly began. "Maybe you should wait back up on the surface. You made it this far down here. You at least got to see the pyramid." She tried to reason, but Weyland shook his head. "I made it this far, now I'll make it the rest of the way. I've got Athena with me." He tried to shrug it off, but Athena frowned. "I'm not a miracle worker." She softly said. Mr. Weyland shook his head, but Lex tried again. "Mr. Weyland. . .let me tell you about my father."

And with that, Lex told him of how her father died. Hiking up a mountain with her and breaking his leg. His refusal to go back down and fix it, thus causing the blood clot that traveled to his lungs and killed him.

Once done, Mr. Weyland gave her a sad smile. "Lex, what do you think your dad remembers more? The pain or the memory of him sharing a bottle of champagne with his daughter at the top of that mountain?"

At this, Lex was silenced and so Weyland continued. "I want to remember that I did this. Even if it takes my last breath doing it." He softly said.

At this, both Athena and Lex gave a sigh of defeat. "I'll keep you going for as long as I can." Athena quietly said. "But. . ." She couldn't say the rest. She didn't want to tell him that he might not make it back out of this cavern.

Mr. Weyland nodded and stood up.

"Then let's get back with the team.

* * *

"That fool!" Athena quietly griped under her breath as Lex and she stood inside of the pyramid while Weyland gave instructions to the group. Lex nodded in agreement and both girls remained silent as they watched.

Sebastian, the man who convinced Lex to stay and work with the team, approached the two women and sat by them. "Not having fun?" He asked, though he smiled and it brought them to a better mood. Lex rolled her shoulders and popped her neck. "Just wondering about things." She said vaguely. Athena nodded and Sebastian cocked his head at them. "Such as?" He asked.

"Such as how long this is going to take and what we plan to do through out it." Athena answered.

"What do you mean? You have your jobs for this as well." Sebastian pointed out. Athena shrugged. "My job doesn't actually happen unless one of you is hurt. Lex's is if we're on the ice, which we currently aren't." She pointed out. Sebastian's lips pierced. "True, true." His Italian accent growing thick. "Though I guess this means you can help us with our jobs then." He grinned. Lex couldn't help but chuckle and even Athena grinned.

"Like what?" Lex asked.

"Well Miller needs someone to take pictures of him for his kids while he takes samples from the Pyramid to take back to the lab." Sebastion pointed out. Athena looked at Lex and nudged her. "I've got to stay on call." She pointed out. Sebastian looked behind himself when his name was called and Athena took her chance to lean over and whisper in Lex's ear. "I think he's got a crush on you." She grinned mischievously. Lex felt her cheeks heat up at this. "What? No-"

"He was specifically directing our conversation at you. I could see it in his eyes." Athena interrupted with a grin.

Lex's cheeks were burning, but she replied back with her own secretive grin. "I always did have a weakness for accents."

Athena chuckled and gently shoved Lex off and towards Sebastian. "Girl, go get him."

And with that, Lex went over to go talk to Sebastian who had gone back to help Miller.

* * *

Before Lex could even open her mouth to speak to Sebastian and Miller, Weyland called out. "We're going in!" The team began to move forward and Lex turned to Athena and frowned at her. Athena gave her an apologetic shrug and a frown as well.

There goes her chance to see if Sebastian was crushing on her. The team moved in and filed through the entrance of the pyramid.

No one noticed the floor panel shifting when it was stepped on.

No one understood that the hunt was officially on when a signal reached a certain mother ship out in space.

No one knew the hell they had just unleashed.

* * *

 _Author's note: I could tell some people were going to ship Lex and Sebastian when I first saw the Aliens versus Predator movie. I hope those five seconds of talking about crushes satisfied you shippers._


	4. Deployment and Employment

Chopper looked with apprehension at the deployment pods. He'd ridden in one before and it wasn't the most pleasant experience he'd ever had. Although he would be secured inside, the ride itself was still bumpy and made his heart race from fighting the instinct that told him he was going to die when he'd feel himself falling. Think riding in a glass elevator but amplified to be much worse.

"We ready to go?" Celtic called to the group, weapons strapped to his body.

" ** **Sei-i.**** " Scar confirmed, fearlessly approaching his own pod. Celtic looked at Chopper and rose one mandible in a smirk. "You're ****te'dqi ju'dha.**** " He pointed out. Chopper wiped at his sweat angrily. "You would be too if you had to ride in one of these again." Chopper snapped. Celtic rolled his eyes. "Chopper. . . ** **pauk**** , just get in the pod." He ordered.

Chopper glared at him and his mandibles clenched in unvoiced anger, but he wordlessly did as told.

Celtic climbed into his own pod and all three doors closed at once. Even though they were excited, they were also nervous. If their pods weren't sound proof, they might have been able to hear each other's heart beats. They strapped themselves down further inside. Chopper might have done his tighter than was recommended, but it made him feel safer. The other two, having no experience, loosened theirs a bit for breathing room.

Without a warning, the three pods dropped.

* * *

Lucinda had seen many corpses in her life. It was her job to figure out how they had died. She'd seen plenty of common causes like choking, gun shots, knife wounds, cancer, etc. She's also seen plenty of uncommon causes, such as accidents that were so ridiculous that they wouldn't be released to the public.

She certainly didn't expect this!

The group had entered a room that Sebastian had declared was the sacrificial chamber. Their evidence for this being the dead bodies laid out on tables in a circle. Lucinda knew there'd be dead bodies. The whole reason Weyland brought her here was because of the possibility of reserved corpses within the pyramid.

She just didn't expect them to be so. . .torn up.

Along the walls of the chamber were heads and spinal columns. That's it. Hung up like trophies and decorations. The bodies on the alters were probably the most interesting though, but they also freaked Luci out the most. Not because she was scared of dead bodies (for obvious reasons), but because of the apparent way those bodies died.

Holes. Giant gaping holes either in their chest region or slightly above their stomachs. On top of that, the protruding ribs gave the impression that something had burst _out_ from the bodies, not in.

Lucinda had never seen anything like that. If it had been an impalement from the back, then that would have been obvious. But the spines weren't broken, or even chipped. The placement of the holes would have suggested that something would have had to pierce the spine first to go all the way through. Their clothes as well, though time worn, also showed no signs of having been tampered or torn by any projectile that could have come from the back.

Lucinda wondered if maybe some sort of torture device had been in play, like hooks buried into the skin in order to pull the ribs up and out of the flesh that way.

But the hole wasn't even close to the right shape for that type of torture. The flesh wouldn't have as clean of a cut. Plus the ribs, though broken out, had no signs of being chipped from being violently hooked and pulled.

Weyland approached her, though she noticed that he was having a harder time moving than usual. "Anything?" He asked.

Lucinda frowned and shook her head. "I'll have to take these back to a lab for a better look. I can only do so much with naked eye observation." She regretfully declared. Weyland frowned as well, but nodded his head.

"We'll come back again with a team to collect artifacts and to take these bodies back to the surface later." He reassured her. "Thank you." she replied gratefully. He nodded again and turned to leave and discuss with the other members on their own findings. Athena went with him, trailing like an obedient service dog.

Lucinda had to admit that she had misjudged Athena when they first met. Her past experiences with tall people often left her sour and wanting to avoid them. She thought Athena would harass her for her height as well.

But then she saw Athena's skin and had come to realize that maybe the friendly giant had plenty of harassment herself for different reasons. When Athena gave her a genuine smile during their official meeting, she realized Athena didn't care at all that she was short.

And that made Lucinda like her a lot.

Lucinda was broken out of her thoughts when a glowstick was broken and shaken to light before being dropped down the grate that was in the middle of the chamber. Everyone gathered around to look.

"There's another room down there." Someone had declared. Lucinda didn't see who, as she was looking down.

Weyland look down the hole and nodded. "Then we go down." He said.

He left half of the team in the chamber to see if they could find more answers. He would have left Lucinda there too in order to study the bodies more if she hadn't pointed out that it was pointless without her gear and proper lighting. So she was brought along with Weyland and the rest of the group, which included Lex and Athena, much to her pleasure.

As one, they went down.

* * *

" ** **PAUK!**** " Shouted Celtic as he stumbled out of his pod. He cradled his aching head in one hand while slamming a fist angrily into the side of the pod.

Scar came out of his pod with a similar, angry mood, but he choose not to verbalize it. He cradled his own head in pain, but choose to look over and see if the other two were alright instead of taking his anger out on the transportation machine.

Due to both loosening their straps a bit, they had found out the hard way that their heads didn't exactly stay pressed to the padding during the landing. They had slammed their heads roughly against the backs of their pods and felt their limbs protesting from being slammed as well.

Chopper climbed out of his pod in a better mood than both of them. He was happily unhurt and had even found the fall easier this time.

He strode up to the two and clapped them on their shoulders before shaking. "Come on you two ****kainde syra'yte.**** " He said with light clicking of his mandibles for mild laughter. "We have a ****dtai'kai'dte**** to complete."

Cheerfully, he strode away and towards the hole leading to the pyramid. The other two followed behind, griping under their breath and putting on their masks.

Their ****Chiva**** had begun.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **Sei-i:**** Yes

- ** **te'dqi:**** Secreting

- ** **ju'dha**** : Water

- ** **pauk:**** F**K

- ** **kainde:**** Hard

- ** **syra'yte:**** Head

- ** **dtai'kai'dte:**** Hunt

- ** **Chiva:**** Trial


	5. They Stole Our Guns!

They made their way down to the lower chambers that everyone hoped was right underneath the sacrificial room. They were walking in silence the whole time and it was getting on some of their nerves. Lex, in particular, was not used to the quiet. Having a loud, sometimes obnoxious sister herself, she was used to nearly constant conversation. Especially on the ice when constant communication was a must.

She looked around to see who she could start up a conversation with and spotted Athena and Lucinda, not far apart. A question she had been meaning to ask the tall giant burned on her lips and she decided to finally ask it.

Making her way closer to Athena, she gently tapped her shoulder and waited until the woman looked down at her.

"Question." Lex replied to the look Athena gave her. "Answer." Athena replied back without missing a beat. Lex cleared her throat. "The dark spots on your skin. Are they birth marks or something else?" Now the rest of the team began to listen in, interested themselves but never having had the guts to ask.

To their surprise, Athena chuckled. "Something else." She answered. "Though a birth mark would probably be an easier explanation."

Lex tilted her head to the side and quietly made a second guess. "Burn marks?" She didn't want to bring up bad memories for Athena if they were scars like that. Once again, Athena shook her head no.

"Ever heard of codominance in genetics?" She asked.

Now Lex shook her head, but Lucinda spoke up. "I did once vaguely, I don't remember what it is though." Now the team had half an ear turned to listen in while still keeping their concentration on the path ahead of them.

Athena went on to explain. "Codominance is where your alleles can't dominate each other completely, so they end up almost fighting each other for control over your phenotype." At the looks some people in the room gave her, she went on to explain. "Say one parent had green eyes while the other had black. With codominance, both colors would show up in the eyes of their offspring because both colors were equally dominant traits. And with that, you get a blotchy mixture look like what I have."

Miller spoke up. "So one of your parents was white while the other was-" "Polynesian." Athena interrupted. "Possibly also being the reason for my height."

"As interesting as this is." Mr. Weyland broke in, though he gave Athena a sincere and apologetic look. "We're here."

The group filed into the room that was directly below the sacrificial chamber. They spotted the flare that had been dropped earlier and gathered around it before looking around again. Sebastian spotted a sarcophagus of some sort and strode towards it with enthusiasm. After examining it, he declared that it had some sort of locking mechanism on it.

Lex came up behind and peered over his shoulder. "Can you unlock it?" She asked curiously.

Sebastian turned and looked at her with the biggest grin she'd ever seen him give. "I think I can!"

* * *

Back on the surface, Scar and Chopper had just finished stringing up their latest kills when they heard Celtic give a roar of outrage. They rushed out to go find him, only to see him kick a ****ooman**** down the hole that led to their hunting grounds.

They heard the creature scream on the way down and looked form Celtic to the hole multiple times before sighing. "It could end up being ****nanku**** down there. What if it alerts the other oomans?" Scar chastised, though Celtic wasn't listening.

He reached up to his arm and, with his claw like fingernails, pulled out the bullet with a hiss of pain from where the ooman shot him. His mandibles flared in anger before he recklessly jumped into the hole and started sliding down.

" ** **Pyode th'syra.**** " chopper hissed. "He gets offended by anything."

Scar agreed. "Come on." He said. "Let's not leave him down there alone." Chopper sighed. "I'm smearing his bed in ****kiande amedha cjit**** when we get back." He swore. Scar lifted one mandible in a smirk at the thought of the future fight between those two if Chopper did what he said, and jumped down the hole. He started sliding towards the bottom.

Giving an exasperated sigh, Chopper hopped in and followed after him.

* * *

When they got to the bottom, they found to their surprise that the ooman was still alive. The creature was broken and clearly dying, but they were impressed that it had survived this long.

Chopper, still miffed about being shot earlier, turned his back on the ooman and strode towards the entrance to the pyramid.

"You're not going to ****bpi-de**** his pain?" Chopper demanded incredulously.

Celtic looked back at Chopper before giving the ooman a look of contempt. "He was a ****tarei hsan****. He doesn't deserve my mercy." He snapped, mandibles clicking rapidly in anger, before turning on his heal and striding away.

With a roll of his eyes, Scar finished the job for him and turned towards the quivering ooman. Raising his wrist blades, he brought them down on the ****pyode amedha**** 's flesh. With a quick flick, the deed was done.

Chopper was still glaring at Celtic's back when Scar looked back at him. "Pyode th'syra." He repeated, directed at Celtic.

"I heard that!" Celtic shouted.

"Meant to!" Chopper replied before following him in with Scar on his tail.

* * *

Having holographic maps of the pyramid, the three young yautja made it to the room that held their plasma casters only a couple minutes after the humans had left.

Suspecting nothing out of the ordinary, they confidently strode towards the lock box with the excitement of finally getting their weapons.

Celtic got to the box and stared at the symbols that automatically returned to their original placements after they had been opened earlier. He slid his fingers into the holes and started turning the dials before stopping on the second turn wheel.

"Remind me the combination again?" He demanded.

Scar and Chopper gave a groan at their friend. "Years, months, days, and then the constellation that shows up here all year." Scar answered. "Well which one was that?" Celtic demanded impatiently while he turned the wheels for months and days.

"The oomans call it Orion." Chopper replied while getting the constellation dial himself.

The box slid open and all three looked inside. An awkward silence reigned for several seconds before Scar spoke.

"Chopper?"

". . . ** **sei-i****?"

"You said the oomans call the constellation Orion?"

"Sei-i."

"I think they also knew how to read the hieroglyphs as well."

Suddenly, Celtic interrupted their banter with a shout. " ** **PAUK!**** " With a vicious kick of his leg, he slammed the box shut again and turned towards the entrance that he could smell the human musk coming from. "They have left through there." He said in a dark voice. Like a blood hound on the quest for sausage, he barreled down the hallway and made quick pace towards the human group that had their plasma casters.

Chopper and Scar quickly hurried after him.

* * *

 _Author's Note: Translation time!_

- ** **ooman:**** Human

- ** **nanku:**** Alive

- ** **Pyode:**** Soft

- ** **th'syra:**** Skull

- ** **kiande amedha:**** Xenomorph

- ** **cjit:**** Sh*t

- ** **bpi-de:**** End

- ** **tarei hsan:**** Unworthy opponent

- ** **pyode amedha:**** Soft meat/ human

- ** **sei-i:**** Yes/affirmative

- ** **Pauk**** : F**k

 _I hope the little lesson on genetics entertained you. If you want to look up more on how genetics work, research Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics._


	6. The Walls, They Move!

The team of adventurers ended up arriving in a long hallway, large enough to fit them all. By now, they were all nervous and on edge.

When they had taken the guns, the lock box snapped shut again and relocked itself. On top of that, they heard screams of pain and fear coming from the sacrificial chamber above them two minutes after the box shut.

As if that wasn't enough, the door that they had come down in shut and a new one had opened.

Going through the only door now, the team traveled behind Lex, who confirmed with her compass that they were heading in the direction of the exit. When concerns were made about the teammates that were left in the sacrifice chamber, Lex could only try to keep her composure and reassure them that they'd find the missing members along the way.

Stone was the first to die.

A mercenary that Weyland had hired, the man never saw the noose tied wire that was hanging in front of his face. With only a gurgle of sound to indicate that something was wrong, he was strong up and whisked away seemingly into the ceiling. Bass, another mercenary, was impaled via spear and that's when the group finally got into defense.

Lex and Sebastian stood by each other in almost huddling, protective stances over each other. They kept close by Weyland and the other beakers. Beakers being the nickname the mercenaries gave to the scientists. Lucinda was unintentionally right in the middle of them.

Athena and Maxwell Stafford stood protectively by Weyland's side, though Athena lacked a gun and any other weapon besides some scalpels in her bag. Maxwell held up his own gun and fired with the rest of the mercenaries into the ceiling and sides of the walls blindly, hoping they'd hit something.

Suddenly, a sound like thunder struck their ears and the walls began to move.

Several of the team got separated before they even knew what hit them. Millers and Verheiden both ended up trapped together while Lex, Sebastian, Weyland, Maxwell, Athena and Lucinda got lucky and were boxed off in a new room that still had the original exit door.

"Let's go!" Athena shouted, helping Weyland along. Maxwell didn't bother with his boss and everyone ran to the exit door and out of the room into another hallway, this time smaller.

Suddenly, Maxwell grabbed Weyland by the shoulder and turned on him.

Athena made a sound of protest, but Maxwell had an angry look in his eyes. "I need to know." He hissed. "What did my men die for?" Weyland was silenced for several seconds, whether this was due to his hard time breathing or just from being stunned, no one knew. But he finally spoke up.

"To make history." He gently said, though his eyes clearly said they were sorry for the mercenaries and beakers that had and were possibly dying back there.

"Who's history?! There's or yours?!" Maxwell shouted, his English accent growing thick.

"Max, enough." Athena intervened, grabbing hold of his wrist and forcing him to let go of Weyland. "No one, absolutely no one, knew or even had a hint that this was going to happen." She continued, staring Maxwell down. Maxwell glared at her. "We should have turned back as soon as we saw those bodies." He spat. Athena scowled at him. "Why? Because they gave a clear 'turn back' warning? Again, ****no one**** could have predicted this!"

Maxwell shook his head. "Well I-" He was interrupted by Sebastian's wrist watch going off.

Grateful for the break in the tension, all turned to look at him as he was facing Lex, both having been in conversation already. "What's that?" Lex asked, referring to the alarm that had gone off.

"A theory I'm testing." He answered. "The Aztecs measured time in intervals of ten. So ten minutes-"

Now he was interrupted by the harsh grating sound of the walls moving again.

No one noticed the predators waiting for them outside of the walls. Once the walls moved, all three, in cloaked form, moved in to start their attack.

Celtic gladly uncloaked and shot off a net that trapped Maxwell and pinned him to a wall. Celtic started to run at them, his steps thundering and nearly shaking the ground as the humans feverishly tried to free Maxwell. When they all witnessed that Sebastian's knife was sliced in half as soon as he tried to use it, Maxwell despaired as he saw the hope drain from his comrades' eyes.

Athena still kept trying to feverishly pull at the net, slicing her gloves and the skin of her hands as she tried to reach behind Maxwell to free him from the wall and hopefully, the net as well.

Weyland and the others turned to face Celtic as he charged at them. Sebastian stepped up and tried to use the last of his knife to slice at the oncoming alien. Celtic merely picked him up by the throat and held him out to dangle while he elongated his spear. He aimed it at Maxwell, but Athena grabbed the other end and tried to shove it away enough that it wouldn't hit Maxwell. Celtic snarled and tried to force the stick back, but was shocked that the human had enough strength to make a stand against him.

His attention was arrested when he heard the cries of pain from Chopper behind him.

While Celtic had been busy dealing with Athena, Sebastian and Maxwell, Chopper decided to go straight after the woman who had one of their plasma casters. When she turned at the sound of his footsteps, he kicked her to the ground while still cloaked. Lex went flying back and skidded along the floor. She landed with a thud against the wall and coughed as they air was slammed out of her lungs.

Chopper stood over her with wristblades unsheathed, but kept himself invisible. He rose his arm to the side to slash her.

Lucinda, who had moved behind the safety of a pillar when she saw Celtic charging, now saw Lex on the floor and looking up in horror. Although it was too dim for her to make out Chopper's cloaked shape, she did see something else. She saw a black, hard-shell looking animal poised at the top of the wall in front of Lex. She saw its tail lower and looked ready to strike.

Fearing that it was aiming for Lex, she dashed out from behind and picked up a piece of gravel.

Something that very few knew about her is that she used to be on her highschool's softball team. So when she raised her arm behind her and got into position, she knew she still had her good aim. Body moving with her arm motions, Lucinda let the gravel fly. It smacked the black, bug like alien hard enough that it earned her a shriek of protest.

Unbeknownst to Lucinda, she had unintentionally saved Chopper's life.

As soon as Chopper heard the now familiar and dreaded shriek of his species' ultimate enemy, he whirled around and uncloaked to face the beast. The Xenomorph's attention was restored back to him and it quickly raised its tail to strike. On instinct, Chopper raised his arm to block the oncoming blow.

The tail whipped down and pierced through his arm. It went straight through his wrist gauntlet, flesh, and even bone, all the way through to the other side.

Chopper howled in agony, his mandibles spread as far as they could go from the pain. The Alien shrieked again and yanked it's tail out of Chopper's arm, causing another inhuman scream of pain from the yautja. With a leap of its powerful hind legs, it jumped at Chopper and dropped him to the ground, sending in him careening into the same wall that he had slammed Lex on.

Lex, by now, had scrambled away and was dashing towards Sebastian, who was helping Mr. Weyland to his feet. They both got the man up and held him between them as they made a mad dash for the exit.

Celtic had unintentionally dropped Sebastian when he heard Chopper's first scream. Whirling around and forgetting his spear that Athena still had a hold on, he stared at Chopper as he screamed again from the Alien's tail being yanked out of him arm, and then wrestled to the ground in a helpless position.

In a surge of rage, he charged at the Xenomorph and knocked him off of Chopper, who was struggling to sit back up.

Celtic and the Xenomorph tumbled into another adjoining room and were busy wrestling.

Lucinda now fully stepped away from the pillar and walked towards Chopper, intending to help. Thinking it was another human being and not knowing what it had done and had intended to do to Lex, she strode forward determinedly to try and see if she could do anything to be of assistance.

* * *

Now that the giant killer had gone off to go help his friend, Athena turned back to Maxwell and raised her newly acquired spear, intending to stab at the netting with it.

What she saw made her real back with a shriek.

Right in front of her was an eyeless, smooth, black shell of a head. What consisted of the creature's lips snarled at her before it turned its attention to the captured human it was perched over. Before Athena could even react, a second mouth shot out and decimated Maxwell's skull and brain in seconds. A cry of pain died on his lips as he went limp in the net, blood dribbling down the hole in his forehead and pooling back into his gaping mouth.

Athena backed up and ran before the alien had a chance to turn its attention on her.

She unknowingly ran in the same direction that Celtic and his alien had went. When she entered the same room that the two were wrestling in, she tripped and fell down a hole that she hadn't seen was right beneath her. With a painful thump of her heart, she landed in a pile of human bones. Her spear skidded over the pile of bones, resting a little ways away from her.

Not fully registering what it was she had fallen on, she scrambled to her feet just as the xenomorph Celtic had been fighting dropped down to where she had landed. It was wrapped up in the same netting that Maxwell had been in. It's struggling and shimmying had caused it to tumble down the pile of bones and land on the floor to the side.

A few second later, Celtic dropped down, ceremonial knife in hand.

Just as he had landed, the pyramid gave a rumble and the entrance to the hole slammed shut. Athena was now trapped in a burial room with two killers who seemed to be close to finishing their fight.

So what did that mean for her?

* * *

Chopper was cradling his arm and quivering in pain while Lucinda approached him. It was too dark to make out the details. All that she could conclude was that it was a large human with metallic armor on.

When she got closer, she spotted something neon green seeping from the hole in his arm.

Finally hearing her approach, Chopper looked up and gave a feral snarl at her. Lucinda stopped and raised her hands palm up and a 'peace' gesture. "I'm not going to harm you." She softly said, hoping to sooth the giant's fear.

Before he could respond in any way, the walls shifted and slammed shut around them.

Chopper looked around in despair as he realized he was now trapped in the tiniest space possible with another human.

* * *

Sebastian and Lex struggled to get Weyland up a flight of stairs. The man was breathing laboriously and his eyes almost seemed like they'd pop out of his skull.

No one noticed the third predator at the bottom of the stairs and how the walls slammed shut behind him. He had no choice but to pursue the humans now and leave his struggling brothers behind.

He deliberately went slow up the stairs after the three thieves that had his gun.

* * *

 _Author's time: So some of you might not know this, but there's an Aliens versus Predator book that ,yes, the movie was based off of it. I just barely got to read it and it has so much more detail that will be really helpful for this fanfiction. If you want to look it up, it's Aliens Versus Predator by Marc Cerasini._


	7. Taking Sides

Athena stared from the floor as Celtic advanced on the thrashing Xenomorph. He was taking his sweet time getting there, which gave the hard-shell alien enough time to break free. Its acidic blood melted the net enough that it burst free and lunged at Celtic, knocking him over.

' _This is my chance!_ ' Athena thought with relief.

There was a door open behind her that led out of the room that she finally noticed was covered in bones. She turned to go, but then paused. Her thoughts went back to Maxwell. He had been killed by the black, almost bug like creature. The thing seemed to be more animal instinct than intelligence.

She realized several things at that moment.

Whoever won would be after her. She doubted she could escape either, despite how athletic she was. If the humanoid won, she had a fraction of a sliver of a chance to maybe form a shaky alliance until they got out of there. If the black alien won, she doubted she could do anything to tame it.

Looking back at the two, she saw the humanoid on the floor. He (Athena assumed it was a he) seemed resigned to his fate and looked up through his mask helplessly as the other creature loomed over him.

Athena's decision was made in an instant.

With rising rage at the black alien for what its brother did to her long time friend and coworker, Athena charged at it. Neither acknowledged her presence, too focused on their own situation to notice a human. That is, until she grabbed the partially severed end of the xenomorph's tail.

With nearly inhuman strength, she yanked with all of her might and sent the unsuspecting creature down the pile of bones. It shrieked as it fell down and kept sliding on down from stumbling over the bones. When it landed hard on the bottom, it's feet got tangled up in the previous netting and the thing thrashed about trying to knock the trap off.

Athena looked back to see that Celtic had risen to his feet.

Celtic was livid. At first he had been shocked when he saw the ****ooman**** ****lou-dte-kale**** yank the ****r'ka**** off of him and brutally throw it to the ground. He had heard few tales of _oomans_ with ****thar'n-dha**** like that, never mind a _ooman lou-dte kale_!

But then his rage kicked in.

This _ooman_ had just denied him an honorable death. To be killed by a _r'ka_ in battle would have put him in good views with his clan, even if he hadn't been blooded beforehand. If he wasn't strong enough to kill a _r'ka_ , then he had to let himself be killed or kill himself with his ****akrei-non****. Celtic knew he couldn't do the second option with Chopper and Scar still in the pyramid somewhere. That would bring back the dishonor if he killed them with the explosion too.

So he was left with no choice but the first. To let himself be killed by the ****kiande amedha****. But this ooman took that from him!

Rising to his feet, his rage filled mind let him bitterly think that she might have been a poacher as well. A poacher here to steal his kill. He was about to charge at her and fight her instead when she did something unexpected. Turning towards him, she kicked up the spear that he had abandoned with her on the surface. It had fallen down with her and he never even noticed its presence. Then she thrust it into his hands forcefully and pointed back at the _kiande amedha_ that had by now freed itself of the leftover net.

Her meaning was clear, despite having said no words. _Finish the job and kill that thing._

In an instant, his rage at her softened until it was just a mild irritation now. He realized with relief that she wasn't here to steal his kill or deny him an honorable death. She was giving him a second chance to prove himself. Something he knew none of his own clan would have done if they had taken her place here.

The _r'ka_ charged up the pile of bones at them and this time Celtic was ready.

With a leap of grace, he flew through the air towards the Xenomorph and brought the spear up for impalement. Athena just stood by and hoped she had chosen the right side.

* * *

Chopper was still sitting on the floor and cradling his arm in pain. The stupid tail of the alien had impaled his arm all the way through, breaking his bones and adding more pain as well. He tried to gently pry off his now useless wrist gauntlet, but stopped when he realized it was too painful to do one handed.

Suddenly, a soft hand touched his bent knee.

His good arm shot out and grabbed said hand, causing a squeak of fright from the creature. Looking up, he realized with shock that it was a _ooman_ child! Releasing the child _lou-dte kale_ from his grip, the creature snatched her hand away and looked at him apprehensively. Though he still couldn't read _ooman_ facial expressions that well, he could see by her eyes that she was uncertain.

Seeing her here filled him with anger at the _ooman_ species. 'They bring a child to a place like this?!' He thought venomously.

His kind abhorred killing children. They saw it as cowardly that one would feel the need to demonstrate their strength and power against something that clearly had no chance against them. On top of that, preservation of the species was in question as well. They knew not to hunt a species to the edge of extinction. _Oomans_ , although there were many, were no exception.

He stared at the child as she cautiously approached again. "I'm not going to hurt you." She repeated.

His translator relied the message back to him and he wanted to scuff at the thought that a mere child thought it could do any harm to him, but he knew what she actually meant. She wasn't here to make an enemy of him by her actions.

Then what did she plan to do?

Gently reaching out, hands softer than anything he had felt before grasped his own hand that belonged to his damaged arm. A twinge of pain shot up his arm, but he held still for her. She looked back up at him, her eyes full of wonder. He figured she was shocked by the feel of his skin like he was with hers. She frowned at him.

"Lift up your arm." She gently said.

He cocked his head at her questioningly and she explained. "I can slide my hands underneath that. . .thing and you can slide your arm free."

His translator explained what she said to him and he wondered what strength a child could have. Much less enough that could stretch his wrist gauntlet enough for this. Deciding no more harm could be done than what already was, he gingerly lifted his arm up for her. He didn't expect anything, but he was sorely surprised.

With gentle fingers, Lucinda slipped her hands underneath the sides of his gauntlet. She slid her hands all the way in to her wrist and then began to pull outwards with all of her might. To both of their surprise, the gauntlet stretched with her hands, just enough for him to slip out.

He did so, but cringed in pain from having to flex the ruined muscles.

Lucinda held up the gauntlet to examine it before gingerly setting it down in front of him. Chopper looked at the ruined piece before angrily kicking out and smacking the equipment into the wall. He seemed to grumble under his breath before looking up at Lucinda with a cocked head.

Lucinda tilted hers as well, showing equal curiosity in him. "Who are you?" She asked.

For several seconds, they just stared at each other, not moving a muscle. Suddenly, the humanoid reached up and unplugged two tubes from his mask, each making a hissing sound when they came off.

Lucinda grew excited. She had felt his hands earlier and noticed the odd, scaly texture. It was too dark to tell if that was his actual skin or just his clothing. But the light was brighter on his face, and so she knew she'd get to see that at least.

When he took off his mask, she reeled back in shock.

He stared back at her, equally intrigued. He knew _ooman_ children were easily scared, but she wasn't screaming. He could see in her eyes that they were wide in shock, but that was it. Just shock, no fear. It slowly turned into curiosity. Tilting his head at her, he decided to see if she really was scared of him and was just good at hiding it. Stretching his mandibles wide, he roared at her.

The child stumbled backwards, but it was still just shock he saw in her eyes. No fear.

He tilted his head at her again as she slowly came back and stood before him. ' _Strange child._ ' He thought.

What was even stranger was when she still spoke to him. "I-I'm L-Lucinda." She introduced, stuttering from having suddenly been roared at. His translator had a hard time working through her stuttering, but when it finally got there, he tried to pronounce the child's name. "Lu. . .ssseen. . .ta." He knew it was nothing like how she pronounced it, but it was the best he had for now.

To his surprise, the child giggled. "Close. Just try Luci for now." She suggested.

Being a naturally curious person, Chopper wondered why she'd have two similar names. He tried to say her second name anyway. "Looo. . .seeee." Lucinda smiled at him, a _ooman_ gesture he was unfamiliar with. "Close enough. What about your name?" She asked.

Well now he had a problem. His mask could automatically translate her words into his for him. It was designed to do that. But in order for him to try and talk back, he'd need to manually type his words in and say them back.

Which was now impossible to do without his gauntlet.

" ** **Pauk!**** " He unintentionally cursed out loud. Lucinda tilted her head at him. "Your name is _Pauk?_ " She asked, barely making out the word he pronounced. His eyes went wide and he tried to shake his head no at her, but her attention was distracted when the walls began to shift. Lucinda stood up and faced the brand new door that had just appeared.

"Come on _Pauk_." She said to him, not looking behind herself to see him slam his good hand over his face. "We can get out of here now."

Chopper, now named _Pauk_ by Luci, tried to stand but slumped back to the floor when his arm practically screamed at him.

He'd have to fix it first.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **ooman:**** Human

- ** **lou-dte-kale:**** Child bearer/ female

- ** **r'ka:**** Xenomorph

- ** **thar'n-dha:**** Strength

- ** **akrei-non:**** Bomb

- ** **kiande amedha:**** Hard meat/ xenomorph

- ** **Pauk:**** F**k

 _For those that might be confused, no, Lucinda is not actually a child. She's just short. And I didn't do Lex's and Sebastian's point of view because Lex doesn't actually befriend Scar until much later._


	8. Stuck

Lucinda didn't know how to react to his face.

Admittedly, she had expected a human face under there. Maybe a strange one, but still human. His was ****definitely**** not human! He had four of these claw like finger appendages coming out of his face. Further thought made Lucinda feel like the right word for them was mandibles. To make things even more complicated, he had teeth under those mandibles. When he roared at her, she saw that he had no tongue. At least, not a visible one.

But what really unsettled her most were his eyes.

Those looked _too_ human. Not in their shape or color, but in the obvious intelligence and emotion you could see behind them. Lucinda could instantly tell that he was just as curious about her as she was about him. When she looked at them, she realized that the only time in her life that she'd ever seen eyes even close to human depth in emotions were in dogs. Dogs could display emotion, but it wasn't strong ones.

She didn't get a long time to keep looking at them. The wall behind her opened up and a door was revealed. She stood up and turned to it. "Come on, let's go." She said over her shoulder to ****Pauk**** , having deduced that that was his name.

The predator, who's actual name was Chopper, tried to stand but instantly fell to the floor while cradling his injured arm.

Lucinda wanted to smack herself in the face. 'Duh, he can't stand!' She mentally chastised herself. Walking over to him, she tried to examine his arm, but he pulled away from her and fiddled with something in one of his packs. Lucinda frowned at him. She wasn't a trained medic. She barely passed a CPR exam. But she just wanted to see if there was anything she could actually do to help.

Ignoring her, Chopper got to work on making the blue past that has saved his kind's hide before.

While Lucinda watched him curiously, he dreaded what he was about to do. The gel was so painful that even some of the most pain endured warriors of his kind couldn't help but raise their voices in sudden agony. He was definitely no where near their level of pain tolerance.

He held up the blue gel to his eye level and inspected it. Reluctantly, he lifted his arm. Lucinda watched on as he brought the blue gel to his pierced arm and covered one side of it.

If Chopper had a tongue, he would have bitten it off and maybe some of his teeth too. His sudden roar of pain startled Lucinda so much that she fell over backwards. She looked up in fear as his mandibles were spread even further apart than the last time he had roared, which was just to scare her. He cradled his arm and began to breath heavily as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

While he was distracted, Lucinda crept forward and snatched the can of blue gel away. He didn't notice and for that Lucinda was grateful. Some small part of her thought he was trying to hurt himself more.

When he finally stopped shuddering in pain, he looked up and tried to search for the tin. When he saw that she had it, he snarled indignantly at her. She shook her head.

"Flip your arm over. I'll do it." She instructed.

He cocked his head at her. Mask off at the moment, he couldn't translate what she had said. Lucinda sighed when she realized this. Stepping forward, she reached out and gently offered her hand to him. He began to reach out with his good arm, but she shook her head and pointed to his bad one. He made a noise of protest, but she grasped his fingers and carefully pulled his arm over to her.

He didn't resist and she tugged his hand around so his arm was belly up.

Gently prodding at the hole, he hissed at her and she stopped poking. Looking back at him, she scooped up the blue gel and held it up so he could see. Realizing what she intended to do, Chopper nodded at her.

The roar wasn't as loud this time, but Chopper was trying to focus on holding his arm still while she quickly applied the healing gel. It wasn't easy, and he shook mostly, but he got through it.

Now all that he had to worry about were his broken bones.

He knew moving it around would cause a bigger problem than there already was. If a bone wasn't set right soon, it would heal crooked, causing even more problems than there already was. Add to the fact that he hadn't killed a ****Kiande Amedha**** yet, and he was screwed. The rules of the ****Chiva**** were clear. Don't return at all unless you've made a kill.

He was stuck down here until his trial was over.

Startled out of his thoughts by Lucinda's movement, he noticed her taking an article of clothing off of her body and holding it up for his view.

Lucinda held up her jacket. Even she realized that his broken bones were still a problem. Luckily, she thought she might be able to make a sling out of her jacket. Motioning him forward, he hesitantly slid towards her while she slid the body of the jacket under his arm. He hissed from being jostled, but made no motion to stop her as she reached up behind his head.

As soon as her hands touched what she deemed to be his dreadlocks, he shuddered and pulled away. Lucinda rose an eyebrow at him. "I have to get this around your neck." She explained.

He still couldn't understand her, but ground his teeth together as he let her continue what she was doing. The child didn't know what touching their dreadlocks did to them. He didn't want her to know, and decided to keep his frustrations to himself as he felt her fingers and knuckles slide under his fleshy locks and tie her cloth around his neck.

Lucinda stood back and examined her work proudly. She beamed at him. "All done!" She declared. Chopper stood up and looked down at what she had made.

He realized that she had made him a sling.

* * *

Celtic kneeled over his prey as his breathing tried to even out. He stared with amazement at the ****r'ka**** that he believed might have been the biggest one in the brood, other than the queen. Standing back up, he glanced over at the ****ooman**** to see if she was still there.

Athena watched him carefully and he regarded her curiously before kneeling next to his kill.

'What now, I wonder?' Athena thought to herself. She watched as the humanoid cut off a claw like finger off of the black shelled creature. Turning his back to her, Celtic made sure she couldn't see his face while he took off his mask. Holding the metal piece up, he brought the severed finger forward and began to trace his clan's symbol into the forehead of his helmet.

Next came the hard part.

Bringing the finger back up, he brought it to his forehead and began to trace there as well. He let out a roar of pain when the acid seeped into his skin, but continued to keep doing what he was doing.

Athena was startled out of her staring by his roar.

She didn't see his face and at first, she respected his space. If he didn't want her to see him, fine. She could live with that. But then his animalistic roar caused her to rethink her judgement and quickly walk over to see what was wrong.

She was jilted to a stop in her tracks once she saw his face.

Staring in shock, she watched as he finished burning himself and then rose to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted her form and whipped his head around to stare at her. Both creatures watched each other hesitantly before Celtic drew himself to his full height. To his irritation, she was of similar height to him.

Although his bulk and height was impressive, Athena realized with some glee that she was actually still taller then him. Only by an inch, but still.

He glared at her and began to walk up to her. Invading her personal space, he stared at her at the hopes of intimidating her into submission. She didn't seem to get what he was trying to do and just coolly stared back at him. He growled at her and she merely raised an eyebrow at him. Put off and now irritated, he opened his mandibles wide and roared at her.

Her eyes went wide at his sudden actions, but she didn't step back.

"Man you need a breath mint." She said out loud. With helmet off, he didn't understand what it was she had said. Though thanks to his proud mind, he determined that 'breath mint' was an insult.

Suddenly, the walls began to shift again.

Before either of them had time to react, the ceiling above their heads slammed down on them. Celtic ended up barreling into Athena and fell on top of her in a dazed heap as the walls reconfigured so both human and predator were pinned to the ground.

Celtic blinked himself out of his daze as he stared down at the _ooman_ beneath him. She stared up at him in equal shock.

Celtic tried to shift off of her, but found that the ceiling above them had his large body pinned to, _in his opinion_ , her overly curvy body. She tried to shift as well, but he found that it just caused them both to rub against sensitive areas. When he realized that their arms were pinned as well due to different sections of the ceiling being on different levels, he groaned in frustration.

She tried to turn her head to the sides and could barely see that the ceiling had come down to form a long tunnel that they were stuck in the middle of.

This creature's overly heavy weight made it hard for her to breath while he was on top. Add to the fact that he was painfully smooshing her breasts back against her body and she was just painfully uncomfortable. She tried to shift out from under him, but all that did was make her rub him wrong.

' _At least now I know he's a male._ ' She thought sarcastically.

Then both paused as they heard a scrabbling sound. It was coming from both ends of the tunnel. Athena turned her head one way and Celtic the other. Athena watched as these weird spiderlike creatures with scorpion looking tales started to hustle towards them.

By the way she felt the humanoid's heart begin to pick up speed against her chest, she realized that this was a very bad thing to happen.

* * *

Lex was caught on the edge of a collapsed bridge.

They had lost Weyland to the predator that was hunting them. They had run from the aliens of both species and now she lost Sebastian to one of the black shell ones. Crying out his name, she tried to hoist herself over the bridge.

All that was left was his bottle cap.

With tremoring hands, Lex picked it up and examined it carefully. She was beyond scared, but at least the Italian man's presence had been a comfort. Now she didn't even have that. With a will she didn't know she had, she forced herself not to cry and focus on the task at hand. First, she tied the bottle cap around her neck. Then she turned in the direction she now had to go.

There stood the predator.

She rose her hands up in surrender when he began to raise his spear. Thanks to Sebastian, she knew why he and his friends were here. Not to hunt her or the other humans, but to hunt the more dangerous, and deadly prey. She and the others were just casualties to their war. Lex tossed him the gun in her bag and he looked at it before looking back at her with a cocked head.

She muttered under her breath. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **Pauk:**** Fu**

- ** **Kiande Amedha:**** Xenomroph/ hard meat

- ** **Chiva:**** Trial

- ** **r'ka:**** Xenomorph

- ** **ooman:**** Human

 _I'm sorry this came so late. I'm away for the weekend and am stealing time to write this whenever I can._


	9. Attacked

Lex stared at the predator as he stared at her.

Raising her hands in a surrendering gesture, she reached behind her back with trembling hands and grabbed her pack. Swinging it around, she brought out the gun and presented it to him. When he didn't take it, she crouched to the floor and slid the gun across the ground for him. He stared at it for several seconds before looking back at her and then back at the gun. Finally, he bent over and picked it up.

That's when the xenomorph attacked.

* * *

Arm now in a sling, Chopper ventured forward with Lucinda down the hall that opened up.

He couldn't get in contact with the others anymore. Without his wrist gauntlet, he could only receive their messages through his mask now. He couldn't respond in any way. On top of that, his holographic map for the pyramid was gone.

He was in a pretty foul mood.

Lucinda didn't seem to be affected by this at all. She even took the lead in front of him. He almost thought she might even know where they were headed, until he noticed that they had looped several times around the same spot.

She was just as clueless as him, but apparently not as concerned about it.

Growling in annoyance, Chopper moved ahead of her and purposefully took the lead back. Lucinda stared up at him. "Do you know where to go?" She asked curiously. Chopper looked back at her and shook his head in response. Lucinda rose an eyebrow at him, wondering why he went ahead of her then.

She wondered if he was alone down here or if he had a team with him like she did with her.

Lucinda's mind filled with thoughts of her teammates and a feeling of anxiety suddenly overcame her. She tried to control her breathing, but it was getting difficult. What if they were dead? Or trapped? Was she the only one alive?!

Chopper stopped and looked back at her, seeing with his mask that her heart rate had suddenly elevated up.

He cocked his head at her and watched as she clutched at her chest. He knew ****ooman**** children scared easily, but he didn't know they could fly into a sudden panic. He wondered if she had seen something that he hadn't.

Suddenly on guard, he unsheathed his spear and stood erect and alert for the danger, even with only one hand.

When he saw that her panicking wasn't getting any better, he cocked his head at her and made a curious sort of clicking sound. She didn't respond as she clutched at her chest and tried to feel for the wall that was far behind her.

Suddenly, both heard a screeching noise that made them both shiver.

Lucinda gasped and bit her bottom lip with strained breath. "Is that-" She didn't get to finish as a xenomorph jumped out of the dark and toppled her. She landed on her back and slid along the floor with a yelp as the beast towered over her and raised its tail to attack.

All that was heard was the sound of flesh being stabbed.

* * *

Athena's heart picked up speed along with Celtic's.

Celtic knew what they were, and was furiously praying to his thunder God that it took the little demons well over ten minutes to get to them. With the little space available, he looked back down at the _ooman_ beneath him.

There was fear in her eyes as well, but mostly confusion. "What are those things?!" She suddenly shouted.

Having more sensitive hearing than _oomans_ , he cringed at the sound of her voice being so loud. He snarled at her and she glared up at him. "Don't get pissy with me! I want to know what the hell those things are." She snapped. He had no idea what she said, and didn't bother to try and pick apart her tone to figure it out.

Looking back at the facehuggers, he felt he had no choice but to take desperate measures to save himself. There was honor dying to a ****kiande Amedha**** , but none if he were to die to one of the face huggers.

And he wasn't about to lose his honor when he just earned it.

"What are you-mfff!" Athena suddenly exclaimed as she saw him lower his head to hers and latch his mouth onto her lips.

Celtic had spread his mandibles wide and latched them hard onto the sides of her face as he pressed his teeth against her lips. He dug deep into her flesh, nearly piercing it. This was most definitely the weirdest thing he's ever had to do in his life. Even though his teeth didn't have the same nerves like his skin did, he could still tell how soft her flesh was, and how easy he could rip into it. Especially the flesh around her mouth.

Athena, on the other hand, was freaking the ****pauk**** out!

She's had maybe three legitimate kisses in her life (for reasons that were out of her control). She sure as hell didn't want to have a fourth one with a freaking alien! The feeling of his teeth on her lips brought her back to one of those three kisses she had done. The boy at the time, severely inexperienced and obviously clueless, ended up kissing her with just his teeth, not his lips. She had no idea at the time that people could be so awkward at something as simple as pressing lips together!

This felt just like that, only his teeth were sharp, not blunted.

She was completely thrown for a loop, and even began to panic when she felt his mandible thingies latch onto the sides of her face and hold her in place. Only when she felt that he was making none of the movements that people would normally do with a kiss did she calm down. She noticed that his eyes weren't trained on her, but rather on the creatures crawling towards them.

That's when she felt something thin but strong wrap around her neck.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **ooman:**** Human

- ** **kiande Amedha:**** Hard meat/ xenomorph

- ** **pauk:**** Fu**

 _So I'll admit, I'm not that invested in replaying the Scar and Lex scenes in this Fanfiction, mostly because it would be tedious. You've all seen the movie (or like in my case, read the book), so I don't feel the need to redo their scenes that much here. But don't worry, this fanfiction doesn't end with the pyramid. They'll get more development, I promise._


	10. The Triumphs and the Fights

Lucinda Stared as the black shelled beast that was supposed to kill her was suspended mid-air, limp and life-less.

Looking past the beast with wide eyes, she saw that ****Pauk**** was holding the shaft of a spear with one bulging arm. The spear was impaled through the chest of the serpent. The blood dripping down missed Lucinda by inches, landing past the calves of her legs. She watched in amazement as the blood sizzled and burned through the floor, creating dents.

Unexpectedly, _Pauk_ suddenly let loose a terrifying roar of victory!

Lucinda stared as his head was cocked back and his mandibles were spread wide in triumph. He flung the now dead carcass above his head and shook it with pride as he continued to roar. Blood flew everywhere and melted at the walls and floor of the room around them. A couple drops landed on Lucinda and she yelped in pain before backing up against the wall in the hopes of avoiding it.

Chopper abruptly stopped and stared at her.

Realizing what he had done, he sheepishly approached the child and knelt down by her side. He saw that her eyes were trained on the carcass wearily and he came to an understanding that he had accidentally burned her.

Speaking of which.

Standing back up, he dropped the body on the floor with a huff of effort. Kneeling down, he cut off one of the fingers of the ****R'ka****. Lucinda crawled back even further from him, but he made no motion to come closer to her. He just assumed she was trying to avoid the ****thwei****.

He brought the finger to his forehead and began to mark himself.

Lucinda watched in surprise as the beast before her harmed himself. ' _He's crazy!_ ' She thought to herself. At least, she assumed it was a 'he'. The beast was gritting his teeth hard enough to nearly chip them. His mandibles were curled in on themselves in pain and Lucinda could only watch as he burned a lightning bolt into his forehead and then his mask.

' _He's a masochist. He's got to be!_ ' She thought.

When done, _Pauk_ stood up and looked down at her. He cocked his head at her and she wearily stared at him.

Without warning, he reached a hand out to her.

Lucinda stared at his hand for several seconds in unresponsiveness. Growing irritated, he made several rapid clicking sounds at her that made her get the hint that he was growing impatient. Snapping out of her shock, Lucinda reached up and took his hand. With a strong grasp on her palm, he hoisted her to her feet and stood her near his side.

But he didn't let go.

Lucinda was once again thunderstruck, but to Chopper it was perfectly logical. She was a child that needed protection. He could get her to the surface and hopefully drop her off with some more responsible, maternal ****oomans**** that would do a better job of watching over her than whatever _oomans_ brought her down here. He knew it would take a while, and his clan would not be happy with the delay, but their code demanded it. There were manners he needed to uphold.

Almost dragging her along, he kept walking forward while she stumbled along with him.

* * *

Lex stared at the alien she had just killed. Impaled on the end of her temporary spear, it sagged in her arms until she could no longer hold it up. Dropping the carcass to the ground, she shakenly stood up and watched Scar fight the alien that had attacked him.

When Scar managed to scare the xenomorph off, he finally attached his gun and started shooting.

Lex stood by his side and simply watched while transfixed as the swarm of beasts were killed off.

* * *

Athena gasped in sudden shock as a tail of one of the crawling creatures wrapped around her neck and squeezed.

A huff of angry air from the humanoid above her directly into her mouth showed that he was having no better luck.

Celtic had completely engulfed her face with his in the hopes of creating an airtight seal between the two so the face huggers couldn't impregnate them. He huffed angrily at her when he felt her open her mouth when her throat was being squeezed.

' _Fool! Keep your mouth closed!_ ' He viciously thought but couldn't voice out.

He felt one of the little freaks wrap a tail around his throat and fought with his instincts to keep from opening his own mouth in response to being suddenly strangled. He hardly noticed how the _ooman_ underneath him was squeezing his hands for dear life.

Athena soon found out why he had locked their faces together.

As soon as she saw some flesh like tube protrude from one of the crawlers, she wanted to scream. It prodded at her cheek and tried to force its way underneath the humanoid's mandibles to get to her mouth. Not having that, she pressed her face even harder against his. Her nose was being squished, and that added to her already growing problem of having a hard time breathing.

Time passed and both were rapidly losing their strength.

From previous CPR classes, Athena knew an adult human had around ten minutes worth of stored oxygen still in their lungs. By now, both were holding their breath. She didn't know how much the humanoid above her had in his lungs. She didn't even know if it could breathe oxygen!

Athena could still breathe through her nose, but with extreme effort. Celtic didn't have that. He had been holding his breath the minute he had latched his face onto hers. Athena felt him begin to slightly sag against her and loosen his grip on her.

'Oh no! He's losing his breath!' She began to panic.

Wrapping her fingers tight around his, she squeezed his hand and tried to encourage him to continue fighting. He didn't respond for several seconds, but they felt like minutes. Athena began to panic.

Then he squeezed her hand back and her heart gave out a thump of relief.

* * *

Author's note: Translation time!

- ** **Pauk:**** Fu**

- ** **R'ka:**** Xenomorph

- ** **thwei:**** Blood

- ** **oomans:**** humans

So because I had such an absent weekend, you all get two chapter updates today! Yay!


	11. Lucinda's Chiva

_**Author's quick note** : So something quick to address. A couple of you last time pointed out the lack of a scene break. I realized what happened and acknowledge that it was my fault. I am copying my chapters off of my wattpad account and just pasting them straight onto . My chapters on my wattpad account have scene breaks. I failed to realize that took those scene breaks out when I posted the chapters. That is my fault for not checking the pasted chapter before posting._

 _I have fixed the problem now, so the previous chapters should have scene breaks. You can go back and check for them if you wish._

 _Again, I'm sorry that happened, but now I know!_

 _Enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

Chopper dragged Lucinda along.

Though she tried to keep up, her legs were just too short for his long quick strides. She was having to do a fast jog while he was simply walking. Eventually, their pacing irritated Chopper.

Turning towards the child, he picked her up by her hips and set her on his shoulders.

Lucinda let out a squeak of protest as she was lifted up. She saw ****Pauk**** move his dreadlocks aside and didn't connect the dots until he grabbed her and hoisted her to his shoulders. She held on to the bumpy crest of his head for dear life and squeezed with her legs tightly over his shoulders as he made a grumbling noise and walked on.

Lucinda was red in the face for what felt like several hours.

* * *

Chopper and Lucinda eventually made it back to the sacrificial room.

Lucinda was still riding on his shoulders and the redness in her cheeks eventually died down, as well as the pounding in her heart. She still clung to his head and found she had to lean forward a bit to do so since his head had a more awkward forehead slope than humans.

Chopper didn't mind her hands on his head. In fact, he enjoyed it. Her touch reminded him of a warmed blanket.

His kind were cold blooded. This meant his body's internal temperature was regulated by his external environment. If the weather was cold, he'd turn cold. If the weather was hot and muggy, he'd get just as hot. So his kind had to be careful about where they went.

Sadly, their ****Chivas**** were different.

Their _Chivas_ were tests. For them, it meant that you were placed where you were placed and had to make due with what you got. Hence why they were in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Normally, his kind hunted only in areas of hot, humid conditions. But that was only if you were a blooded warrior and got the luxury of choosing where you wanted to hunt.

He, Scar, and Celtic currently did not.

They got stuck with this place. A very ancient hunting pyramid that hasn't had a successful hunt since the first time a hunt was failed here and the land had to be demolished. Those first three yautja that failed their _chivas_ here were forever shamed, and every other yautja hunting team after had failed in this pyramid as well.

Some of his clan thought it was cursed by their thunder god.

The ancient people that used to live there treated the yautja like gods. They were worshipped, and every yautja that passed through was given on honorary statue carved in his image at the time. Because of this, they thought their god was offended that the yautja had the humans paint them as gods, and did not have the lesser species worship him as well.

You can tell how he and his brothers felt when they received the news of where their _chiva_ was going to take place.

Though their spiritual leaders assured them that their thunder god was not offended, nor did he curse the pyramid, it did little to bolster their hopes. Celtic, of course, bragged that he would be the first one to have a successful hunt there. Chopper and Scar remained a little more humble and quietly accepted their doom.

Chopper was shaken out of his thoughts when he felt Lucinda shift around and give a squeak of horror.

"Miller!" She shouted, jumping off of his shoulders abruptly and running through the room. Chopper cocked his head and looked to the area she was running to. He realized with shock that she was running to one of the ****oomans**** that was somehow still alive. A quick peak with his mask's vision showed that his life wouldn't be long though.

"Miller!" Lucinda shouted again as she ran up to him.

Miller was shaken out of his daze when he heard her voice. Blinking the slime from his cocoon out of his eyes, he looked down at the speaker. "Lucinda?!" He balked. She eagerly nodded at him and reached towards his prison. "I'll get you out!" She vowed and started tearing at the hardening substance.

Miller felt a very sickening, painful sort of movement in his chest and shook his head at her.

"No, you need to run!" He gasped. Lucinda looked up at him with confused and fearful eyes. "What?! No!" She replied. Miller shook his head. "It's too late for me. I've been co- aaagh!" He cried out in pain as he felt something break his ribs. Then he felt something that he assumed was his flesh being eaten from the inside out. He groaned. "Lucinda, run before you're killed!"

"Mill-" Lucinda was cut off by the chest burster.

She was frozen in shock as the thing came flying at her. It felt like slow motion, but she knew it was only happening in seconds. Before the screeching creature reached her, _Pauk_ grabbed it mid-air and dashed it to the ground.

Lucinda barely registered Miller's last breath. She didn't notice Chopper kick the creature away and she didn't notice the look he gave her as he turned around and cocked his head at her curiously.

Another panic attack was setting in.

She clutched at her chest and stumbled to her knees. Chopper made a sound of alarm, but Lucinda couldn't hear him. Normally, her panic attacks happened without reason. Just up and out of the blue with no warning. Some times from stress or over thinking.

But this time her panic had a reason.

Seeing the death of a friend sent her mind reeling. Even though they weren't close, Miller's gently flirtatious but awkward nature made him enjoyable to be around. The fact that someone as innocent as him was given such a violent death made her insides turn.

She began to lose her senses to her panic attack. She didn't hear the sound of alarm coming from Chopper nor the rapid tumble of clawed feet on stone floor.

What she did end up hearing was the screeching.

Something in her snapped. She didn't want to focus on the panic. She desperately wanted to get rid of it. What she really wanted to do, was get angry.

Angry at the creatures that killed Miller. Angry at the creatures that possibly killed her other friends too. Angry at the creatures that lured them down here and angry at the world for being so unfair.

With a force of will she never knew she had, she forced her near paralyzed limbs to stand up and turn around despite her crippling panic attack. As soon as she saw the black shelled beasts rampaging through the hallway towards them, that anger she desired came to her.

So much so, that she blacked out.

* * *

Lucinda came back to consciousness dazed and confused.

Her senses slowly created a picture of the scene around her and she had to gasp.

For some reason, _Pauk's_ spear was in her hands. She had no idea how she got it and had no idea why it suddenly had so much more of the yellow acidic blood on it than before. Several bodies of those black shelled creatures littered the floor. They all had several puncture wounds in them and Lucinda realized that those wounds were the same size as the spear's circumference.

With a shocked and shaking body, she looked up to find _Pauk_.

 _Pauk_ had his back against the wall. He wasn't cowering, but he had chosen to stay out of the fray. Lucinda could barely make out that he had a shocked expression on his face. His mandibles were spread wide and his pupils were nearly round enough to hide the whites of his eyes.

Lucinda shook when she spoke.

"Did I just. . .do all of this?" Her confusion increased Chopper's astonishment and he nodded his head at her, mouth and mandibles still open. Did she not realize what she had done?

Lucinda squeaked and suddenly dropped his spear.

* * *

Chopper and Lucinda were now on a clear path to the entrance that would lead to the surface.

Both stayed silent along the way and for that, Chopper was grateful. He was too amazed to want to attempt at one sided conversation. Lucinda didn't know what she had done and he felt that was a problem.

Back in the sacrificial chamber, Lucinda had yanked the spear out of his hand with surprising strength.

Then he saw her rampage.

Her small body made for great speed, and that made for dodging the assaults of the ****r'ka**** easier. She flew through the mass of them so fast and dealt continuous blows along the way that it caused the _r'ka_ to grow confused on where the assaults were coming from at some points. Some of the ****kiande amedha**** got a few good swipes at her, but they mostly succeeded in shredding her clothes.

Chopper had chosen to stand by the wall and stay out of her way. When the _r'ka_ started falling to ground dead, he was officially shaken.

She had killed five. Five of the _Kiande amedha_ had fallen to the wrath of a small child! She hadn't even elongated his spear. She had kept it short and to her size. He had been tempted to collect her trophies for her and present them when she was ready, but decided the weight wasn't worth it when they still had to get out of there.

Lucinda was still shaken when they arrived at the entrance to the bottom of the hole.

Chopper watched as the child ****lou-dte kale**** walked over to a sort of sled attached to thick ropes. With vacant eyes, she motioned him over. "Hang on to the sled, it'll get us back up." She quietly said.

With translator relaying what she had said, he did as told.

He grabbed the top edge of the ledge with his good hand while Lucinda entered a code into a nearby panel. Once done, she came back over and had to jump to grab to the top of the ledge as well. He didn't feel she was secure enough, but realized that with his own broken arm, he had no room to talk.

Suddenly, they shot upwards and had to hold on for dear life.

* * *

At the top, the shed had shot them off as soon as it stopped progressing.

With impressive reflexes, Chopper caught Lucinda mid air and flipped them over so she landed on him while he landed on his back. He landed with a grunt of pain and Lucinda quickly hopped off of him. "Are you hurt?!" She asked frantically. He shook his head at her and she breathed a sighed of relief. She then turned and walked back over to the shed that brought them up.

With a couple clicks into the code panel, Lucinda sent the shed back down the hole in case any other survivors needed it.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **Pauk:**** Fu**

- ** **Chiva**** : Trial

- ** **Oomans**** : humans

- ** **r'ka**** : xenomorph

- ** **kiande amedha**** : Hard meat/ xenomorph

- ** **lou-dte kale**** : child bearer/ female

 _A long dedicated chapter to Lucinda. Athena next!_


	12. Athena's Chiva

Celtic was on the verge of passing out.

With no ****vayuh'ta**** left in his lungs, he was fighting every instinct in him that told him to open his mouth and take a fresh gulp of it. The ****ooman**** underneath him would periodically squeeze his hand. At first, he didn't understand why, but then he saw the concern in her eyes. So he'd squeeze hers to let her know he was holding out.

It was getting harder though. His grasp on her face was growing weaker and he couldn't tell if he was actually squeezing her hand back or not. By the look in her eyes, he probably wasn't. Things began to grow blurry.

Then the walls began to shift.

Their arms were the first things to be released. The walls shifted up and away from them and now only their torsos were pinned. Both were quick to act. Their hands shot up to their necks and wrestled with the tails of the invasive creatures there.

It was a losing battle. The facehugger's grips were just too strong.

With a startling clarity, Athena realized that maybe working on their own separately wasn't the smartest tactic. So instead of fruitlessly working on hers, she reached up and grabbed the legs of the creature clinging to the humanoid above her.

Startled out of his struggling, Celtic stared at Athena as she pulled the body of the facehugger away from him as much as possible. ' _Has she already taken care of hers?_ ' He thought, but quickly saw that she hadn't.

Her facehugger began to unleash it's tube to impregnate her, and Athena had to practically bite her lips closed from the inside to block it.

Celtic, finally understanding what she was getting at, grabbed the tail of his facehugger and quickly uncoiled it from his neck. He threw it to the side and opened his mandibles wide, sucking in as much _vayut'ha_ as possible. More facehuggers swarmed around them in their attempt to take their brother's place at his neck, but the wall that pinned their torsos finally shifted.

He yanked Athena to her feet and brutishly tore the facehugger off of her just as its tube began to break through her lips.

Athena made a wheezing sound as she finally inhaled fresh air, but then busied herself with stomping at the little crawlers underneath. They darted away from her feet, but made a new effort of attack by jumping at her face instead.

She brought her arms up to block them, but was grabbed by Celtic instead. He yanked her around and away from the facehuggers so they landed back on the floor instead.

Athena yelped as he forcibly pushed her forward and began to run while dragging her. Finally taking the hint, Athena began to run with him and he let go of her arm. With her own long and powerful legs, she kept stride with him, though with plenty difficulty. His kind were known to have immense speed and strength. Athena was just grateful that she was over seven feet tall now and had stayed athletic all her life.

While running, Celtic pulled up his holographic map and took the lead.

They ran through several hallways and large rooms. Athena didn't know how long, but her straining lungs made her feel like it had been hours. They took sharp turns and several times they had to avoid the black, almost dinosaur like creatures.

Finally they made it to the sacrificial chamber.

Celtic finally slowed them down and Athena bent over to catch her breath. ' _Why'd I have to grow boobs this big?!_ ' She mentally cursed as they weighed down on her lungs. Panting, she looked up to see what her inhuman companion was doing.

He was staring at the room in shock.

Five ****Kiande Amedha**** lay dead and scattered. Their bodies sported several puncture wounds. None of them ran deep, but their bodies were littered with enough holes that Celtic guessed they had simply lost too much blood and died. He couldn't make any guesses as to which of his ****mei'hswei**** s had done this, but he was deeply concerned by the sight. None of the ****th'syras**** were removed. Not even some claws.

This could only mean that either they didn't care about collecting the trophies or they had perished.

Dismayed by this thought, Celtic frantically began to look around the room more for the bodies of his comrades, using his helmet's various vision modes to aid him. Athena continued looking around the room and noticed brown, egg-shaped sacks that were scattered on the floor. They had folded over flaps, which Athena assumed were there to release whatever creature nested inside. She made a point of avoiding those.

Then she heard scraping of claws and gnashing of teeth above her.

Looking up, she froze as she saw the black shelled creatures crawling over the ceiling. They had a body with them that was thrashing and yelling desperately to be let go. Athena recognized the voice. "Sebastian!" She shouted. All she received were hisses and snarls from the beasts as a few turned their attention towards her.

Athena whirled around to call a warning to the humanoid, who she realized she still had no name for. She spotted him far away from her and shouted out. "Hey!"

Celtic couldn't tell if he was relieved or had cause to worry that he couldn't find the body of one of his _mei'hswei_. He kept searching though, until the _ooman_ ****lou'dte kale**** suddenly shouted out. He turned to look at her as she was pointing upwards frantically. Looking up as well, he saw what concerned her.

Several of the _kiande amedha_ swarmed the ceiling. They held another _ooman_ between them, who was somehow still alive.

Several of the beasts jumped from the ceiling and landed with a thud behind Athena. She whirled around to face them just as they were charging at her. Celtic could only stand and watch as she faced them. His upbringing prevented him from interfering. If this was a normal hunt, then he could have assisted her. But this was a ****chiva**** and the rules were different. Though he had companions, it was still a test of one's own abilities to survive.

That counted for the _oomans_ as well.

Athena backpedaled and ended up tripping backwards just as an inner jaw of one of the beasts snapped at her. She landed with a thump and frantically crawled back as the monsters dived at her. Her hand found a large, loose rock and she grabbed that as her weapon. When one of the beasts opened its mouth and snapped at her a few inches from her face, she took her opportunity.

She flung her arm up and shoved the rock as far down its throat as it could go.

The creature wailed and the sound was garbled with the stone blocking its windpipe. It tumbled backwards and clawed at its own neck frantically while its brothers dashed to his aid. They surrounded him, but had no knowledge of how to help.

So instead, one turned back on Athena and charged at her in retaliation.

Athena hopped to her feet and dashed away. It chased after her and several more took his lead and followed as well. They wanted her blood as their brother suffered a very slow and agonizing death behind them.

Athena knew she couldn't run forever, and at some point had to turn and fight. So she did just that.

Stopping and whirling around, she faced the oncoming creatures and pushed her mind into a frenzy for a plan. She had no weapons, but their bodies were hard and deadly.

So she decided to turn them on themselves.

Dashing forward, she slid between the feet of the closest one and grabbed his tail. He screamed in irritated rage and one brother came to his defense. He opened his mouth to snap at her and Athena yanked the tail she had a hold on in front of the snapping teeth. The inner mouth that shot out severed the tail and caused hot blood to drip and burn the floor.

Now in pain, the creature with the severed tail let loose a roar of protest and ran out of the room in a hurry.

Athena, now with the severed end of a xenomorph tail in hand, faced the other two that wanted to kill her. They advanced and Athena raised the tail tip high as one charged. Its inner mouth shot at her and she flung herself back out of reach just in time. While the mouth was still out, she dove the tail tip through the inner mouth and viciously stabbed it before yanking her weapon back out again.

The second one howled in pain while the third took up the attack.

Instead of charging at Athena, he whipped his tail around and stabbed at her. Athena dodged again as he managed to slit her thigh. With the scent of her blood now revealed, the third brother made a more bold attack on her. It advanced and kept using its tail to stab her like some berserker type of scorpion.

Athena kept dodging and backing up, but his attacks gave her an idea.

She slowly made her way over to the second black shelled creature that was too busy mewling in pain over his damaged inner mouth. His remaining brother kept attacking and Athena positioned herself right in front of the injured one.

At the last minute, she dodged to the side as the third one unintentionally attacked his wounded brother.

The tail went right through his heart and out the other side. The third brother was momentarily stunned into silence as he felt the voice of his brother fade from the hive mind connection that they shared. It was the perfect opportunity for Athena.

She lunged forward and stabbed the tail tip straight through the throat of the remaining attacker.

The beast let out a gargled scream of pain as it staggered, fell to the floor, and writhed about while it died.

Athena was breathing heavily and shoved the hair out of her face when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Whirling about, she saw that it was her humanoid 'friend' who had come up behind her.

The one who only watched as she fended for herself. . .

Suddenly overcome with anger, she shoved him back as hard as she could, much to his surprise. He staggered back from suddenly being off balance and she yelled at him. "Thanks for the help!" She snapped, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

He couldn't tell that she was angry at first. His translator told him her words, but it couldn't convey the tone of them. Her actions and her words didn't mix, and that's when he realized that she didn't mean them literally.

He was about to retaliate when they heard the familiar screeching again.

Athena whirled around again and saw that Sebastian was already wrapped up in a black cocoon. Suddenly, to her horror, they smacked a facehugger straight onto him before anything could be done.

"No!" She shouted, and made to lunge at him.

Celtic grabbed her by her waist and dragged her backwards. She struggled in his grip and he was surprised to find that she was harder to muscle around than he thought she would be. She kept shouting the same thing at him. To let her go so she could help her friend. Didn't she see that it was pointless? As soon as they put that temporary incubator to his mouth, her friend was done for!

"Sebastian!" She shouted with a heart breaking tone and that's when she finally stopped struggling. The reality finally settled in that her friend was done for.

Celtic pulled her along and towards the exit destination just as some of the _kiande amedha_ raised their heads and looked in their direction.

* * *

They made it back to the bottom of the hole.

Athena was numb and silent the whole way. Celtic felt that the _ooman_ was refusing to talk to him, and he didn't know why that bothered him. He knew it was partially due to the fact that he could tell she blamed him for her friend's death and he wanted to reason with her that it wasn't his fault.

Maybe he also just didn't like to see her fighting ****bhu'ja**** so. . . _quenched_. . .

A soft depression floated around her as they stopped and looked up the hole. Celtic let out a breath of exhaustion as he now had to find a way to get both of them out of there. He and his companions didn't exactly think this through when they just jumped down the hole in the first place.

He didn't notice Athena slip past him and approach a sled until he heard her fingers tapping on something.

Peering over her shoulder, he saw a little panel with strange symbols and buttons on it. She pressed at the buttons and Celtic noticed that she did it in a repeating pattern. When done, she turned and gave him a dull look.

"Well hold on." She said as she gestured with her hand towards the sled.

Athena gave a sigh of annoyance as he didn't move from his spot. "Fine. Stay down here if you want to." Turning her back on him, she hopped on to the sled and held on to the top of the railing. Finally understanding what she had meant, he quickly hopped on next to her and held on as well.

He barely had a moment to notice how her warmth seeped into his side as the sled shot them up.

* * *

Athena went crashing to the snow when the sled came to an abrupt stop and threw them off.

The humanoid went tumbling as well, but Athena found she just couldn't muster enough will to care about him much right now. She clambered to her feet in the freezing snow and was suddenly tackled again by a small mass of flesh.

"You're alive!" Lucinda suddenly shouted at her.

Athena was gob smacked as Lucinda squeezed her and to her side, Celtic received a similar, albeit less enthusiastic greeting from Chopper as the two started to celebrate over their victories in their _chivas_. Athena was just as shocked by Lucinda's survival.

" ** **You're**** alive?!" She returned with a question.

Lucinda let go over her and nodded. "Uh huh." Then she stood up. "Come on! Help me send the sled back down in case there are other survivors." Lucinda dashed to the sled and Athena slowly got to her feet and followed behind.

After re-entering a new code, they both watched the sled descend one more time.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **vayuh'ta:**** air

- ** **ooman:**** human

- ** **Kiande Amedha:**** hard meat/ xenomorph

- ** **mei'hswei:**** brother

- ** **th'syra:**** skull

- ** **lou'dte kale:**** child bearer/ female

- ** **chiva:**** trial

- ** **bhu'ja**** : spirit

 _And now Athena's trial is over!_


	13. The Final Escape Maybe?

Lex was glad to find that these predators had a sense of humor. Gallows humor, but still humor.

When she had killed her black shelled creature, whom she decided to name alien for now, the humanoid beside her began to carve up her kill. First he removed the shell of the head, and then held the still throbbing flesh (brain?) up to her. Making sure she was watching intently, he prodded at the possible brain for a bit before stabbing a certain section.

The inner mouth of the being shot out and snapped at her, inches away from her face.

Lex flung herself backwards on instinct to get away from the snapping jaws. Then she heard what sounded like rapid clicking coming from the humanoid hunter. When he stabbed the brain again and the mouth shot out once more, Lex realized that he had known it would do that. She also concluded that the rapid clicking was his way of laughing.

"Ha ha, very funny." She rolled her eyes at him, but even the corners of her mouth twitched up into a smile. The humanoid got back to his work after that, which Lex soon found out what it was.

He was making her weapons and some armor.

* * *

Celtic went over to where Chopper was and trilled an excited greeting at him.

Despite their usual tension around each other involving dominance, they were glad the other had made it out safely.

"First!" Chopper gloated at Celtic, one mandible raised in a yautja style smirk. Celtic rolled his eyes. "Sure, but you broke your arm." Celtic pointed out. Chopper's smirk seemed to grow wider. "Yep, and that was before I even got my first ****mar'ct****. So I completed my ****Chiva**** one handed." He gloated more.

"Whatever, is Scar back?" Celtic dismissed the subject, trying to have the stinging remarks on his pride just roll off his back.

Chopper shook his head. "I can barely make out his heat signature, he's so far down in the tunnels. And there's another with him." Celtic grew confused. "Another yautja?" He asked. Chopper shook his head again. "No, too small. I think another ****ooman****." He shrugged.

Celtic and Chopper both looked at their own _oomans_ simultaneously.

The two ****lou-dte kale**** were both peering over the edge of the hole. Celtic looked back at Chopper. "You brought along a child?" He asked in confusion. Chopper nodded his head. "You know our code. If I left her there to fend for herself against the ****r'ka**** , it would be considered the same as if I had personally killed her." Celtic frowned, his two lower mandibles drooping towards the ground. "Did you not find her parents?" Chopper shook his head. "Parents or not, which ever _ooman_ brought her down there was being extremely irresponsible. I'm not letting her near the ones that were lured down there."

And with that, Chopper marched over to where Lucinda and Athena were talking, picked up the woman who he thought was a child, and carried her over his shoulder away from Athena.

Athena and Lucinda could only share a bewildered look.

* * *

Lex and Scar made it to the sacrificial chamber without any encounters with the ****kiande amedha****.

To Lex, this was a major relief. To Scar, this was cause to worry, maybe panic. He expected to run into at least one of the patrolling beasts. To run into none meant that something was going on.

Scar spotted some substance on the floor and bent down to examine it further.

He didn't raise his head in protest when Lex went ahead of him. He was too concerned with what he found. A gooey mass that stuck to the floor and was quickly growing hard. He realized it was the same substance the _kiande amedha_ formed their cocoons with.

Only when he heard Lex give a shout of alarm did he finally raise his head. "Sebastian!" She shouted out, panic overcoming her voice.

Scar came running to her side, but slowed when he saw her reason for concern.

Lex was trying to rip at the cocoon that held another _ooman_. A male by the ****h'dui'se**** of him. With his mask aiding him, Scar realized the male's fate was sealed. He strode up behind Lex and said nothing as the male _ooman_ shook his head at her.

"Lex, no! It's too late for me!" He cried out as Lex desperately clawed at his prison.

She shook her head vehemently. "No! I'm going to get you out of there." She firmly declared. Sebastian shook his head at her. "No, they mustn't reach the surface!" His Italian accent was growing thick as he spoke. A sign of his panic rising.

Lex paused and whirled around when she saw three red dots aimed on Sebastian's chest.

"No!" She shouted, shoving the humanoid back. He cocked his head at her as she continued. "He's my friend!"

But even she came to the conclusion of what had to be done.

Turning back around, she saw the pleading look in Sebastian's eyes. "They mustn't reach the surface." He softly said. With trembling arms, Lex reached up with the gun that she had found on the floor earlier before finding Sebastian. Her bottom lip quivered.

"I'm sorry!"

A single shot rang out and Sebastian fell limp.

Scar caught the ****z'skvy-de**** that shot out of the _ooman's_ chest and snapped its neck.

* * *

Athena stared as the second humanoid carried Lucinda away.

"What the hell is he doing?!" She shouted. Lucinda looked at her hopelessly for an answer. "I don't know! He's been carrying me around for a long while now." She shouted back as Chopper carried her further away.

Chopper stopped beside Celtic, who gave the whole scene an amusing look.

"Does your translator still work?" Chopper asked. Celtic nodded. " ** **Sei-i****." He confirmed. "Could you relay a message back to the _oomans_ for me?" Celtic scowled at the request, mandibles curling while hanging down. "I could try, though I haven't tried speaking in their tongue for several years." He said. Chopper growled as Lucinda squirmed.

"Just tell them that-" Both boys, now men in their clans, paused as they heard a troubling sound.

Chopper spoke first. "That was-" "Scar's ****akrei-non****." Celtic finished. Suddenly, Scar and another _ooman_ came shooting out of the hole on the sled. Before the two even landed Chopper had already started running with Lucinda still over his shoulder.

Celtic found to his relief that he didn't need to pick up his _ooman_ himself, as she was already running towards him with a panicked look in her eyes. "Run!" She shouted, shooting past him.

Celtic didn't need his translator to know what she had said.

He ran as well, quickly catching up to her with his superior speed. Athena was running with all of her might. Celtic caught up to her, but kept pace with her. The two ran side by side as Lex and Scar now quickly caught up with them after having landed.

The explosion ate up the ice behind them as they barely made it to safety.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **mar'ct:**** kill

- ** **Chiva:**** Trial

- ** **ooman**** : human

- ** **lou-dte kale**** : Child bearer/ female

- ** **r'ka**** : Xenomorph

- ** **kiande amedha**** : Hard meat/ xenomorph

- ** **h'dui'se**** : musk/ scent/ odor

- ** **z'skvy-de**** : Chest Burster

- ** **Sei-i**** : yes

- ** **akrei-non**** : bomb/ explosion


	14. The Marks We Gain

Humans and humanoids stood together as they watched the ice cave away from the awesome explosion behind them.

Lucinda was still thrown over Chopper's shoulder, and she's the one that gave out the first warning for the falling debris. Bits of rock and xenomorph guts fell to the earth in huge chunks. Athena and Lex made quick dashes to get out of the way, but Scar, Celtic, and Chopper were more calm about it. Lucinda had no choice in the matter.

The falling wreckage began to calm and Scar was the first to act.

Turning to Lex, he motioned her over. The others watched curiously as Lex cautiously did as requested. When Lex stood before him, he broke off a leg from a dead facehugger he had strapped to his loin cloth. He dipped the tip in the acidic blood and brought it close to her face.

That's when everyone realized what was going on.

"Scar, ****m-di****!" Celtic shouted. "She is not-" "She has proven that she can fight." Scar interrupted with a growl. Celtic scowled. "You know the clan is not going to be happy about this." He insisted. For once, Chopper agreed with Celtic, though he didn't voice it.

Scar growled at Celtic. "You know our ways. Any worthy ****ooman**** must be marked. They are granted the respect and protection of our clan. I'll not risk being titled an ****ic'jit**** just because I didn't want to admit that an _ooman_ could fight for themselves." With his finishing remarks, it left Chopper and Celtic with options to ponder themselves.

Should they mark their _ooman_ companions?

Celtic's pride didn't want him to. He never liked thinking that any species could have as equal strength or strategy as his. He especially didn't want to be the one to mark an _ooman_ if this situation ever arose.

And yet here he was. With no choice but to do what he hoped he'd never have to.

Chopper was torn for a different reason.

Lucinda was a kid! Albeit a very strong, almost mature one. But still a kid! To mark her meant that his clan would expect her to now and forever more act like an adult and be independent. At least, if for some reason she ever actually met his clan. She'd be given no room to grow up and would be expected to hold her own regardless of her comrades.

Yet he knew, he had no other choice. To kill a ****r'ka**** was to be marked with honor and glory, regardless of ones current status. Child or not, Lucinda earned this.

He just hoped he could guard her as much as possible when he would mark her.

Reluctantly, he got down on his knees and picked up a scattered finger from a now ****thei-de**** _r'ka_. He set Lucinda down and gently grasped her shoulder. Her eyes turned towards the claw-like appendage he held in his hand, and she tried to squirm out of his grasp. He held her tighter in place, but gestured over to Scar and his ooman so she could see what was about to happen.

Lex already knew what was about to happen.

Earlier in the pyramid, Sebastian found out that this entire event was a sort of coming-of-age trial. The humanoid creatures were here to hunt the black, bestial ones. Both he and Lex watched as Scar marked himself with the blood. Sebastian pointed out how it was the warrior's mark, at least for their culture.

So Lex knew Scar was going to mark her as a warrior as well.

She just hoped she could tolerate the pain. Scar had howled in agony when it had touched his forehead earlier. She didn't know how well she could handle it herself. She squeezed her lips shut and held her breath as Scar brought the finger closer.

Scar had decided to be a little more gentle with his _ooman_ than he had been with himself and his marking.

He used only the tip of the claw to mark her, where as with himself he had used the base of a severed finger. He gently pressed it to her cheek, barely touching the surface. Lex flinched and gave a tiny gasp, but otherwise refused to move or disturb his concentration.

He was grateful for her cooperation and in return, tried to do it as quickly as possible.

When they were finished, Chopper turned back to Lucinda and made a gesture towards the two and then back at her. She still looked a bit unwilling, but nodded her head and gave a sigh of defeat.

Chopper was amazed at her ability to withstand the pain. She did squeeze her eyes shut and bite her lips, but she still pulled through.

Chopper had been just as gentle as Scar had, maybe even more so. When a drop of blood started rolling down her cheek from the mark, he wiped it away with his thumb. To his dismay, however, it just seemed to stain her skin.

Now they all looked at Celtic and Athena.

Somehow, Celtic was the one who looked hesitant while Athena looked expectant. His lower mandibles were drooped in a frown and to the dismay of the other two yautja present, they could see the self-pride growing in his eyes.

Chopper spoke up. "You know you have to Celtic."

"Fine!" Celtic snapped, and snatched the severed finger from Scar before he could protest. From either irritation or his pride, one of them made him decide to be less gentle than his partners had been. Like Scar had done to himself, Celtic used the base of the finger to mark his _ooman_.

He grasped Athena's jaw in a hard grip and held her still as he jammed the finger into a her cheek.

Athena yelled out in pain, but Celtic forcibly held her head still as he traced his clan's mark. Chopper and Scar looked away from the unpleasant scene, as they knew Celtic was being more brutish than necessary. Lex and Lucinda gasped in shock as they could feel that the atmosphere of Athena's marking was severely different from their own.

When done, Celtic let go of her chin and stood back with a smirk, one mandible raised.

At first, he felt a twisted, gloating sensation at having caused the _ooman_ pain. He felt it was justified for her currently being an annoyance to him. Then he saw the stream of blood dripping down her cheek and falling from her chin. It fell to the snow beneath them and she raised her hand to touch the mark. It wasn't a touch of pride, but rather pain. Her hand came away bright red.

When she looked up at him again, his heart gave a jolt at the look in her eyes.

Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears of pain, but the emotion inside held nothing back in way of anger. It was all directed at him and he realized that he had possibly crossed a line here with her. She gritted her teeth and stood up straight.

Then, before anyone could have reacted, she punched him dead in the face.

The force of the blow shocked everyone, as Celtic staggered backwards into the snow and landed on his rump. His hand shot up to his eye, of which he could feel was already beginning to swell. He looked up to find his _ooman_ looming over him with a snarl on her lips.

"If I knew you'd treat me like this, then I would have ****never**** saved your life!" She shouted.

Then she turned and stormed away. Lex and Lucinda chased after her, giving Celtic scalding looks as well. Celtic was frozen in shock as Chopper and Scar came to stand by him. "Is it true?" Chopper asked. Celtic looked over at him. "Is what true?" He hissed, growing irritated.

Chopper glared at him and his mandibles tightened in anger.

"Is it true that she saved your life?" He demanded, tone growing angry. Celtic could feel a similar atmosphere coming from Scar as well, though he didn't see him at the moment.

For once, he felt something he hadn't felt before. Shame. . .

His shoulders slumped as he forced himself to admit the truth. " ** **Sei-i****. . ." Chopper exploded at him in rage. "Then why did you do that?!" He shouted at him. To his shock, Celtic flinched. "She denied me a ****yin'tekai thei-de****!" He tried to defend himself. Chopper spat at him. "Do you think she knows that?! Not everyone knows, much less practices our way of life! And she's not a beast of pure carnal nature! She's a sentient being that can sense when someone is being malicious! She knew you were spiting her!"

Celtic tried to continue to hold his head high, but even he felt the shame slowly weighing him down. He tried to defend himself one last time.

"I have no reason to show her kindness."

This time, Scar spoke up. "From what it sounds like, you have every reason to show her your best side. Where as she has every reason to no longer be kind to you."

That blow hit home. Celtic felt the final nail of shame get hammered into his heart.

He didn't have much time to dwell on it though, as they all heard a very familiar, heart stopping shriek of rage that could only belong to a very big queen ****kiande amedha****.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **m-di:**** no

- ** **ooman:**** human

- ** **ic'jit:**** bad blood

- ** **r'ka:**** xenomorph

- ** **thei-de:**** dead/ death

- ** **Sei-i:**** yes

- ** **yin'tekai thei-de:**** honor +death

- ** **kiande amedha:**** hard meat/ xenomorph

 _I'm very sorry that I had Celtic act this way, for those of you who are pissed off. But sadly, pride is one of his character flaws (as stated on his character wiki page), and pride makes you do dumb, sometimes harmful things. And sadly, pride and relationships just do not mix well._

 _Character development, it's a long and sometimes painful process. Le sigh._

 _Also, I just realized something. I think this is the first time I've ever had Scar actually talk. Wow I did not mean to make him the silent type. I promise he's not! Just very observant first before acting._

 _Anyways, hope you enjoyed!_


	15. The Queen's New Kingdom

The queen burst out of the snow and the boys realized they were not ready for it.

Chopper had a broken arm. He doubted he could luck his way out of this one. Celtic had a growing black eye, which was completely deserved. Scar was the most enabled to do this, but his mesh suit was gone from being burned and rendered useless earlier in the pyramid. The cold was severely dropping his body temperature and making him sluggish.

They backed up as they watched in horror as the queen loomed closer.

The girls were frozen nearby. Frozen in shock, fear, or even cold, no one could tell. It didn't last long, as Lex was the first to run. Her sudden movement jolted the others out of their shock and forced them to remember to run as well.

Athena was the fastest of the three and quickly pulled ahead.

Lex was met up by Scar and both ran together. Lucinda felt familiar arms pick her up and for once she willingly let ****Pauk**** carry her over his shoulder. She had the unfortunate view of the queen now, and trembled as the beast was quickly gaining on them.

They ran to the edge of the ice and had to skid to a stop.

The three boys turned around to make their final stand. Pulling out their spears, they stood tall and proud as the queen drew closer. Celtic shot one of his nets at her muzzle, wrapping up her maw in a tight grip.

The queen growled, but it was muffled by her trapped mouth. The boys took their chance.

Scar and Chopper dashed forward to the front while Celtic circled around to her back. Scar stabbed at her throat while Chopper aimed for her stomach. Celtic stabbed at her thighs in the hopes of disabling her ability to run or lunge at them.

The queen screamed in rage and the net finally broke from her acidic blood pouring out and melting the material.

She snapped at Scar, who was the closest. He barely dodged out of the way and Chopper took his chance to stab at her protruding inner mouth. Chopper renewed his efforts in tearing at the flesh of her legs.

The queen screamed and smacked Chopper away with her clawed hand.

The backhanded slap sent him flying away and caused him to skid on the ice. Lucinda screamed and ran after him, kneeling by his side and shaking his unconscious body. Athena and Lex stood petrified, and were frantically searching their minds for ideas.

Lex looked behind them and found the giant cauldron that was positioned precariously by the ice's sloped edge. She had an idea.

"Athena!" Lex exclaimed, grabbing her friend's attention. Athena looked over at her questioningly and Lex pointed at the cauldron. "It's an old separating vat! We can use it to knock the. . .whatever that thing is, into the sea!" She got excited with this idea and Athena thought that it might just work.

"But can't it float if it falls in wrong and grabs an air pocket?" Athena asked.

Lex shook her head. "It's full of ice by now. It'll sink!" She insisted. Athena nodded and looked back at the xenomorph queen who was currently battering the two yautja. "But how do we use it to our advantage?" She fretted. Lex bit her lip and looked frantically for a solution. Her sharp eyes caught sight of the chains still attached to the queen.

She pointed it out to Athena who cracked her knuckles.

"I'll go in and draw it closer. You get ready to wrap her chains up!" Athena suddenly dashed forward before Lex could protest. Athena zoomed all the way over and got underneath the xenomorph queen. She started slashing at her legs with one of her spawn's tail tips that she had acquired earlier.

Celtic had been dashed to the snow by the queen's tail.

When he saw his ****ooman**** attacking, he made a sound of alarm. Brave or not, she was going to get herself killed!

Celtic pondered for a brief minute on how he was being such a hypocrite with this line of thinking, when he saw the queen raise her tail. On instinct, he shot up off the snow and barreled towards Athena.

Athena felt something large crash into her and knock her to the snow.

When she looked up, she saw that it was the humanoid who hurt her and grew confused. He's attacking her now? When they're all in danger?! But then she looked over his shoulder and saw the deadly tail of the queen impaled in the snow from where she had just been.

Celtic looked back at the tail too and rolled off of his _ooman_. He dashed forward and slashed at it with his spear.

The queen gave a roar again and yanked her tail out of the ice and snow. She made another stabbing motion and Celtic dodged away from it. Athena took her moment to slash at the tail herself as it shot past her.

The queen gave a screech that conveyed her annoyance and Athena took her chance.

Dashing forward to where the queen could see her, she waved her arms and shouted. "Come and get me you ugly mother fu-" The queen gave another roar and charged at Athena. Athena turned tail and ran back towards Lex.

Scar gave a startled clack of his mandibles when he saw that the extremely tall _ooman_ was leading the queen back to ****his****!

He ran after the queen and apparently suicidal _ooman_ in a mad dash. His confusion grew when he saw Celtic's _ooman_ suddenly stop and face the queen. Then she dashed to the side and circled around the queen, who had stopped giving chase as well. The queen turned around to face her and Scar saw his _ooman_ pick up one of the chains that was still latched to the queen.

Realizing what she was trying to do, he quickly made the final run to help.

Lex was struggling to lift the chain up and wrap it around the cauldron's handle. When she noticed that her humanoid friend had come to help her, major relief washed over her. Scar took up the chain and together they pulled at it, yanking the queen backwards in the process.

She was just too far away and the chain couldn't reach.

Much to their surprise, Celtic and Chopper came to help. Chopper had woken up and had run back into the fray of battle after making sure that Lucinda was alright. He and Celtic grabbed the chain as well and began to yank backwards with all of their strength.

The queen turned her head over her shoulder and howled at them.

Seeing that she no longer had the queen's attention, Athena abandoned her strategy of distraction and came to help as well by slipping between the queen's legs. She grabbed on to the chain as well and began pulling.

Lucinda wasn't far behind and took up a spot next to her to help the cause.

With the collective effort of all six, they managed to yank the queen back and tied her chain to the handle of the giant iron separator. The queen turned and tried to bash them all with her largely crested head. The six fell backwards and out of the way as she only managed to hit the cauldron and break several of its supports.

The cauldron nearly tipped all the way in if it wasn't for one damn nail.

Scar had turned his back to the queen in favor of watching the giant _ooman_ contraption pull the queen to her icy death. He didn't see her raise her tail behind him for one final attack.

Celtic did.

He shot forward and barreled Scar backwards just as he felt something impale his shoulder. He howled in agony as the queen lifted him up to face her, causing the muscles and bones to pull painfully on the area he was hanging by.

Lex dashed forward and broke the final nail with a nearby shovel.

Before the queen could deliver the killing blow to Celtic, she was yanked backwards and hauled all the way to the ice's edge. The force caused Celtic to be shot off the end of her tail and forcibly landed in the snow.

The group watched as the queen was pulled to the bottom of the sea.

* * *

Author's note: Translation time!

- ** **Pauk:**** fu**

- ** **ooman:**** human

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

 _Just to let you all know, if you have posted a question and I haven't answered, it could be for the following reasons. A) I didn't see it. If this is the reason then I'm sorry I missed it. B) Your question will be answered latter in the story and I feel it would be a major spoiler if I answered it now. C) Your question was already answered in the story, and you should probably go back and read it more carefully instead of superfast like you probably did._

 _Tis all._


	16. Coming to Their Aid

There was much cheering all around.

The boys were the most wild, howling, roaring, and pounding each other on the back in triumphant glee. The girls were celebrating more for the relief that the battle was over and they were safe. They hugged each other gladly, and even broke into hysteric giggles with each other.

After several minutes, the reality set in that they weren't finished.

For the girls, their problem lay with trying to get back to the Piper Maru. They were out in the freezing snow, with little gear left with them. The boys began to realize a bad problem as well.

Where was their transport ship? It should have come to get them by now.

Scar tried to look around with the different vision modes with his mask, but couldn't find any of their kindred. This made him weary. "They're not here." He relayed to the others. Chopper and Celtic grew stiff at the news. Celtic spoke first.

"Then something is very wrong. . ."

* * *

Aboard a ship that hovered just outside the atmosphere of earth, everything and everyone was in a panic.

The ship itself was fine. It was what was going on outside the ship that was causing the chaos. Hundreds of yautja ran to the armory room to gear up and prepare for war. One of the elder predators that held command of the ship stood regal and silent while he waited for results from his crew.

One such member, an ****Eta**** who was deemed to work as the ships messenger, came forward.

The Eta were the untouchable yautja. They were born with some disfigurement or handicap that rendered them unfit to partake in any hunts, or even their clan's way of life. They would be given no right to mate, nor could they seek honor for themselves.

They were simply slaves to their betters.

This Eta was in a wheel chair. Admittedly, the yautja borrowed the design of such contraptions when they realized the humans had similar genetic problems with their own kind, and had sought to provide their handicapped aid.

This Eta, named ****Zabin**** , was born without legs.

Although disabled, the elder had to admit he was fast with his set of wheels. He almost beat their slowest runner once. . .almost. The elder remembered the savage beating the Eta got after that by those who did not like their pride being challenged like that.

The Eta made a bowing motion, though the effect was somewhat nulled with the wheel chair.

"The poachers are arriving soon, but their course is not directly for earth." He relayed. The elder cocked his head at him and Zabin continued. "They are heading directly here. . .they mean to do battle."

The elder sighed and bowed his head. Poachers, in the middle of a ****Chiva**** evaluation too!

The elder looked at the Eta and stood up straighter. "Bring me the other Elders. . .and our ancient one." The Eta frowned in the way yautja do, with two mandibles drooped. But he lowered his head and eyes to show submission. "As you wish."

He turned in his chair and wheeled away.

* * *

In a secluded room from the rest of the chaos on the ship, three elders and an ancient held council.

Though the threat of a large fleet of poachers was their primary concern, another issue was being discussed at the moment.

"Scar, Celtic, and Chopper have all just completed their _Chiva_. They are still out there." The first elder that called them all to the meeting pointed out. His name was ****Bakuub****. He held the most authority over the group, aside from the ancient.

"We should bring them up to aid us for battle then." The second elder, ****Guan-thwei**** , declared.

The third elder, ****Dahdtoudi**** , shook his head. "Our signals show that Chopper is badly wounded. He will need immediate medical attention once on board. We've also received word that Celtic's vision, at least in his right eye, has been temporarily compromised. His shoulder has also received significant damage from battling a ****kiande amedha**** queen."

The second elder Guan-thwei tightened his mandibles. "Scar is without proper support to survive much longer in the climate we have placed them. If we do not send to take them up now, he most of all will surely die down there. And we will be to blame for abandoning them."

The first elder growled. "We are not abandoning them! It is unsafe to bring them back up right now in their current conditions. We are about to go to war with another clan; they would surely die here when we cannot provide the attention they need."

The two elders quickly delved into a heated argument, one that almost resulted in a fight, when they heard soft clicking from their overseeing ancient.

The three turned their attention towards him as he stood to his full height.

"I will go to them with aid." He softly conveyed to them, the clicks of his mandibles and teeth barely making any sound. There was immediate protest from the other three. "Ancient, you need not worry about three blooded! You have not had the vigor for such labor in years!" Dahdtoudi declared, the worry for the ancient evident in his face.

The other two elders voiced their concerns for the ancient as well. Mainly because his body could no longer truly support him in battle if it came to it.

The ancient silenced them with a simple clack of his slowly cracking mandibles.

"I understand your concerns, but if anything they give me more reason to go. I will not be of use in this coming territory war either. I would also just be in the way, and may even be killed by the dishonorable yautja that encroach on our territory." He reasoned.

The three elders still looked concerned, and the ancient gave a sigh of mild agitation.

"I will go down there with medical aid and new supplies for our newly blooded. We will wait on earth until you have given us the signal that it is safe to return. If no signal has been received in a significant time period, I will send word back to our tribe on Prime that our ship has been compromised."

With that he stood up. "This is my final decision on the matter."

His words held a note of challenge to them, of which none of the elders tried to rise to. Bakuub was the first to give in with a heavy sigh of defeat. "We will prepare your departure. . . ** **Yeyinde****. . ." He spoke the ancient's name softly and with the familiarity only family and close ones could have.

Yeyinde sat back down. "I'll meet you three at the drop pods then."

And with that, the meeting was over.

* * *

Three young yautja looked up towards the sky for any sign of their clan's arrival.

When they saw the trailing smoke that could only come from a drop pod, they immediately grew elated and concerned. It was from their clan, but it wasn't a ship. Drop pods could only go one direction. It wouldn't be able to take them back up to the mother ship.

The girls stayed close by as well, though formed their own little group of discussion.

They jumped out of their skins when a thunderous boom sounded right in front of them. Whirling around, they saw a torpedo looking shape poking out of the snow not ten meters away from them. They stared when it opened up and a fourth humanoid climbed out of the pod.

As soon as the three blooded warriors recognized who it was, they dropped to their knees and bowed their heads in respect. "Ancient Yeyinde." They sounded as one. The ancient looked at them coolly in return. "Rise." He commanded.

The three obeyed.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **Zabin:**** insect

- ** **Chiva:**** trial

- ** **Bakuub:**** Straight Spear

- ** **Guan-thwei:**** Nightblood

- ** **Dahdtoudi:**** Little Knife

- ** **kiande amedha:**** hard meat/ xenomorph

- ** **Yeyinde:**** Brave one

 _Not going to lie, yautja have the most edge-lord names possible. Still fun though._


	17. Informal Introductions

Yeyinde looked at the three yautja as they stood and stared openly at him.

He had to laugh internally at the idea that the three resembled astonished pups. Still amazed by everything they saw. Even there own kind who were above them. He beckoned them forward and they came.

"You three have become blooded?" He asked. They silently nodded at him in confirmation.

The ancient looked past them and spotted the three ****ooman**** ****lou-dte kales**** who were looking at him wearily. He saw his clan's mark on their cheeks and cocked his head at the three boys. "I assume there is a good explanation for why you have given them our mark?" The three nodded again, though they kept their eyes lowered in submission.

"They fought along side us." Chopper spoke up. The ancient kept his head cocked.

"Have your masks recorded this event?" He asked, and the three gave a nod again. The ancient looked back at the three _oomans_ again before looking at the newly blooded. "Then they'll have to come with us." He said.

Before he could turn back to his drop pod and grab their supplies, Celtic spoke out.

"Ancient." He softly said. "May I ask your reason for being here and not. . . umm." "The transport ship?" Yeyinde finished for him. Celtic rose his head from its submissive pose and nodded at him. Yeyinde gestured towards his drop pod. "I will tell you after I have given you your new ****awu'asa**** and provisions. . .we will be staying on this planet for a while."

At this, all three heads shot up and looked at Yeyinde in alarm.

Yeyinde nodded at them. "Before you ask, ****sei-i**** , you heard me right. We will be staying on earth for a time. For how long, I do not know." Celtic was the first to open his mouth and protest. "Did we not prove ourselves?!" His tone held worry for the idea that he and his brothers somehow messed up their ****Chiva****. He frantically tried to think if he had broken any of the rules himself.

Yeyinde shook his head at Celtic. "No, though I will have to go over the recordings later of your _Chiva_. Right now, we have to get out of the cold." And with that, he threw a new mesh suit at Scar, who caught it and stared openly at their ancient before quickly stripping out of his ruined gear to put on the new one.

When he began to take off his loin cloth, the girls who had been nearby shrieked and turned their eyes away. Lex had a more prominent blush on her cheeks than the other two.

Scar rolled his eyes at their immaturity. On his planet, the barest minimum of clothes were worn on a daily bases. Sometimes full on nudity was more desired than having to deal with the mild covering. It depended on how hot the day was and how many pesky bugs were out. Even their armor grew irritating at times to wear.

He found it ridiculous on how much cloth _oomans_ insisted on adorning in their day to day doings.

Though, at the moment he couldn't complain. They were bundled up and seemingly warm while he was freezing to dangerous levels. His mesh suit would fix that quick.

As soon as he put it on, immediate warmth flooded him and he shuddered as his internal temperatures slowly returned to normal. "Thank you." He bowed to the ancient, who nodded his head at him and turned to Chopper. "I believe you're missing one of these." He said humorously as he tossed Chopper a new gauntlet. Chopper caught it with his good hand and bowed to the ancient as well.

Yeyinde then turned towards the three _oomans_ who looked clueless as to what was going on. He cleared his throat and spoke in an almost perfect pronunciation of English to them. "Thank you for aiding these three blooded." The _lou-dte kales_ gaped at him in open shock.

"You can speak English?!" The smallest of the three exclaimed. Yeyinde nodded and the other three boys followed along with their translators in amusement.

Lex turned on those three males. "You could speak English this entire time and you didn't say anything?!" Scar made rapid clicking noises to explain himself to her when the ancient interrupted him. "Their helmets can translate your words to them in our language. They have not studied your language enough to properly communicate back." "Oh." Lex said sheepishly.

The ancient nodded and looked back at the blooded warriors. "What are their names?" He asked.

Scar and Celtic realized they couldn't reply while Chopper spoke up proudly. "The pup is named Lucinda. She also goes by Luci, though I don't know why." The ancient nodded his head at Chopper before cocking his head at the other two. "You marked them and you didn't acquire their names?" "Well, umm. . ." Scar tried to speak up in defense, but fell short. Celtic couldn't reply either.

The ancient's mandibles clicked rapidly in a yautja laugh as he understood their folly. He turned back to the _lou-dte kales_. "What are your names?" He asked.

The tallest and possibly most unusual looking spoke first. "Athena." The name sounded familiar to Yeyinde, though he couldn't quite figure out why. He looked at the second tallest next and she dutifully spoke her name. "Lex." Yeyinde repeated her name and then finally looked at the smallest one of the group.

"I'm assuming you are Lucinda." He said. The child brightened up. "Did ****Pauk**** tell you that?"

Yeyinde nearly stuttered in disbelief at what had just come out of her mouth. He whirled around to demand that Chopper explain himself, when he found that the yautja in question had his head bowed and a hand slapped over his face in embarrassment. The other two openly stared at him before holding their stomachs and laughing at him harshly.

Yeyinde glared. "You used foul language in front of a child?" Chopper cringed back from his glare. "It slipped out before I could stop it! She thinks it's my name now." Scar and Celtic started laughing harder as Yeyinde gave an exasperated sigh. "How many times have I and the elders taught you to watch your language?" He growled before turning back to Lucinda, not expecting an answer from Chopper.

"His name is not. . . _Pauk_. . ." He said to Lucinda. The child cocked her head at him and rose an eyebrow.

"It's not?" Yeyinde shook his head no and Lucinda frowned. "Then what is his name? And what have I been calling him this entire time?" She asked. Yeyinde gestured behind himself at the three boys. "His name in your tongue is Chopper. As for what you have been calling him. . .it is a very inappropriate term." He said.

"Oh." Lucinda blushed in embarrassment as she looked at the humanoid she now knew as Chopper. "I'm sorry. It was the first thing you said to me when I asked for your name. . .I just assumed-" "It is alright child." Yeyinde interrupted. "Chopper knew better than to say it."

"Child?!" Lucinda exclaimed, looking indignant. Yeyinde cocked his head at her. "Are you not one?"

"No!" She declared. "Is that what he said I was?" Yeyinde nodded and Lucinda threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "I'm a fully grown adult! I'm just short!" She shouted. Yeyinde looked back at Chopper again, only to find him blushing madly in embarrassment as the other two had now landed in the snow while they rolled over in laughter.

Chopper spoke up. "I thought she was a pup. . ." His blood rushed to his mandibles and he nearly glowed green.

Yeyinde wanted to slap his face and sigh in embarrassment as well. He turned back to Lucinda, who was fuming. "I'm sorry for his ignorance. He has apparently not been making the best decisions today." "Hey!" Chopper shouted behind them, translator having told him what his ancient had said.

The ancient silenced his protests with a glare before returning his attention to Lucinda. She had her arms crossed and a very angry expression on her face. Yeyinde thought she really did look like a child, and couldn't blame Chopper for confusing her for one. Though he did notice that she did not carry the ** **h'dui'se**** of a child, but one of an adult. Yeyinde wondered how Chopper could have confused the two.

He stood up straighter before addressing the party.

"We sadly, have to stay here for a while. Not here specifically, but on earth." He relayed the message back in English to the _oomans_ before continuing. "We'll have to travel on foot to somewhere more suitable for our needs." Again, he translated the message to English, and Lucinda spoke up.

"We're surrounded on all sides by freezing water. You'll have to have a boat if you want to actually leave this place."

Yeyinde did not like those prospects, but knew it wasn't impossible. "We'll have to swim it." At the gaping looks from the three _lou-dte kales_ , he continued. "These mesh suits can keep us warm, even in the water." He gestured to the material coating his body, but the three _oomans_ still frowned.

Lex stepped forward. "There is a ship here that you can board." Everyone looked at her for an explanation, though Athena and Lucinda already knew where she was going with this.

"It's waiting for our party to return so we can head back to the main lands." Yeyinde tilted his head at Lex. "You are willing to let us seek shelter with you?" Lex and Lucinda nodded. Athena looked at Celtic apprehensively before nodding as well.

"I'll just have to radio them and tell them we're coming. You four will have to sneak on somehow though." Athena declared. "That won't be a problem." Yeyinde responded as Celtic and Scar cloaked behind him. Chopper still didn't have his gauntlet on to do the same.

Athena gave a humorless chuckle as she saw them disappear. "Then getting on board shouldn't be a problem. And I should be able to secure one of the medical rooms so we can get all injuries looked at privately."

Yeyinde bowed his head at her. "Thank you. Chopper and Celtic will need it badly, it seems."

Athena cocked her head at him. "Celtic?" Yeyinde realized that he had not finished the name part of the introductions. "This is Celtic." He gestured to the second tallest yautja of the group, the one that had unintentionally partnered with Athena to begin with.

Athena gave him a contempt filled stare and Celtic looked away from her eyes, not liking the pressure they put on him. Yeyinde noticed her gaze at Celtic too, but didn't comment.

"And this is Scar." He gestured to the tallest one of the group, and noticed how Lex's smile grew a little bigger when he said the yautja's name. Scar trilled a greeting at them humorously, and casually waved his hand. "And in your tongue, my name means Brave one. I am Yeyinde." He finally declared.

Athena dug in her deep pockets and pulled out a walkie talkie. "Well now that that's done, let me get some arrangements settled with the crew."

And with that, she walked away to signal the Piper Maru of their coming arrival.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **ooman:**** Human

- ** **lou-dte kale:**** child bearer/ female

- ** **awu'asa:**** Armor

- ** **sei-i:**** yes

- ** **Chiva:**** trial

- ** **Pauk:**** Fu**

- ** **h'dui'se**** : scent/odor/musk

 _And now they finally know each other's names. Yay! I would have made this one longer, but it already takes enough time to edit these when they reach over 1000 words._


	18. The Bodies Sway

Athena held the radio close to her ear and mouth.

"Piper Maru. Piper Maru this is Athena calling in." She said into the receiver. There was loud static for several seconds before she finally got a response. "This is captain Leighton of the Piper Maru. We've received your signal Athena." Athena sighed in relief as she got a response.

"Good. We'll be making our way back to you soon. Be ready for our arrival." Athena replied.

The radio went silent for several seconds before another response came. "How many are coming back?" The question was soft and set Athena on edge. In all honesty, Athena and the captain had only expected one casualty this trip. Mr. Weyland himself. His poor health was expected to have killed him on this journey.

Athena hesitated before giving her answer. "Three. . .captain."

"Three?!" Captain Leighton shouted over the radio. Athena nodded her head and forgot that he couldn't see her at the moment. "Yes. We. . .were careless. . . Lex was right, we were no where near ready for this." The captain replied back only a second after. "Who are the three?"

"Alexa Woods, me, and Lucinda Mild." Athena replied back, trying not to let her voice waver as grief tried to take her over.

The signal went silent for a while before the captain said anything again. "When you three get back, I want a detailed explanation of what happened. But you'll have to make camp at the wailing station tonight. A storm is approaching and will encase the ship for several hours. It wont be safe to board." Athena sighed loudly before replying.

"We have our tents with us still. We'll make camp there."

"Good." The captain's voice crackled on the radio. "There should be an old mess hall there. It should have good shelter for the night as well if you pitch your tents inside. Might even find some preserved edibles there." Athena chuckled at this. "Thanks for the advice. We'll meet up with you tomorrow then."

"That you will. We'll radio you when it's safe for you to board. Good night Athena." "Good night captain Leighton." And with that, the radio was turned off for the night.

Athena trudged back to the group and told them the news. "We should be safe by morning." She said once she finished explaining. Lex tapped her foot and Lucinda stood shivering beside her. The yautja next to them made no comment, but understood perfectly well what was going on. Lex looked at Athena. "We've got our tents, but they want us to camp in the mess hall?" She asked.

Athena nodded. "Double protection from the elements I guess." She shrugged.

Lucinda stood up straighter and faced the direction leading to said mess hall. "Then let's go! I want to get out of this wind." She started marching forward with Athena not far behind. Lex motioned with her head towards the humanoids to follow her and then started moving as well.

The group moved as one towards what they assumed would be a temporary safe haven.

The group approached the whaling station and moved through the center of the town as the mess hall was on the other end.

The three yautja completely forgot the skinned bodies of the human crew members they had strung up earlier.

Lucinda was the first to spot them, and came to a sudden halt with a shriek. This alerted the other girls and they looked up as well. Gasping at the sight, they stood frozen as the now lifeless bodies swayed in the wind. Lucinda's heart began to race with another anxiety attack.

The predators stopped behind them and three of those four realized their very big mistake when they spotted the bodies they left behind as well.

Athena's fists clenched by her sides and her teeth were gritted to the point of nearly chipping. "Who did this?" Her voice came out dark and menacing. All three girls turned as one and gave the three newly blooded yautja expectant looks for an explanation.

Yeyinde stood aside and examined the bodies while the three ****lou-dte kales**** glared daggers at the boys.

He eyed the bodies thoroughly and could tell which of the three killed which ****ooman****. Scar's were the most well carved. He always was a perfectionist and had even expressed interest in being a possible surgeon. Celtic's was the most sloppy, the bodies having more stab wounds in them from where he carelessly would skin with his knife. Chopper's held the majority of the mess around the joints where it was harder to skin cleanly.

From the looks of it, the majority of the kills were Celtic's.

Yeyinde turned around and pointed this out. "Celtic. These are yours, are they not?" Celtic cringed back when he saw in Athena's eyes that she had connected the dots to that fact as well. She heard Yeyinde say Celtic's name in their language and figured out what the rest of the sentence could mean. Her fists clenched even harder as she glared at him. "Why am I not surprised?" She spat at him, the same dark tone in her voice as before.

Celtic held up his hands in the hopes that she wouldn't attack him again. "A. . .thee. . .na. . ." He tried to say her name, but she wasn't impressed.

Athena turned her back on him and fought with herself to keep her anger in check. Lex looked at Scar with horror and betrayal in her eyes and he tried to reach out for her, but she pulled away and stepped backwards from him.

The group's attention was only momentarily distracted when they heard Lucinda begin to hyperventilate.

Athena recognized the signs of a panic attack and immediately rushed to the girl's side to help. Lex came to her aid as well, though she had to admit, it was mostly so she could get away from Scar and the others.

While they tried to calm Lucinda down, Yeyinde approached the three yautja, who all had hurt looks in their eyes as they watched the three girls.

He frowned at the three, mandibles drooping low. "You'll have to fix this on your own. . ."

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **lou-dte kale:**** child bearer/ female

- ** **ooman:**** human

 _Dun dun duuuuuuh! Did you honestly think the drama was over? Heck no! We gotta address the issue of the fact that Scar, Celtic, and Chopper kind of killed some of the humans here._

 _It is not going to be pretty._

 _Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving guys! If you celebrate it, then I hope you eat well today. If you don't, then I hope you have a good day in general anyway. Eat good as well, turkey tastes great!_


	19. Darwinism

The girls had quickly rushed Lucinda into the mess hall as fast as possible, the four yautja not far behind.

Each group kept their distance from each other, tension filling the air. Athena, being the medic, tended to Lucinda while Lex backed off and gave them space. Athena pushed a strand of hair out of her face before speaking to Lex.

"Mind exploring the place a bit and maybe find a good spot to set up a tent?" She asked.

Lex nodded. "Yeah. . .I'll be right back." And with that she walked off.

* * *

Lex had found an old pantry full of frozen food in the back of the mess hall.

Most of it was unusable. Spoiled by mold long before it could ever be preserved by the freezing temperatures of Antarctica. Lex found that the majority of the canned food was still good for use. The heavily salted meats that were stored in large freezers were still well preserved too.

Now she just had to find a way to defrost them.

Before she could think of a way to defrost the good food, Lex felt a large, oddly textured hand grasp her shoulder and gently shake it. She whirled around to find Scar standing behind her with his head cocked in her direction. She gasped and backed up against the freezer as he stayed in place watching her.

Lex decided cold civility was best for use at the moment.

"Do you need anything?" Her tone suggested that she was impatient and didn't really want to help him. Scar rose his hand up and pressed buttons on his new gauntlet. For a moment, Lex had a thought of him setting off a bomb again.

When he was done button pressing, he stared at his gauntlet for what felt like several minutes before doing anything.

Then he spoke. "Why. . .arrrre. . .youuu. . .mad?" He asked. Lex had to blink in sudden shock and try to piece together the broken English he had tried to say to her. She frowned at him, and tried not to act impressed with his translator. "Why wouldn't I be? You and your. . .whatever they are back there, killed my team. And you skinned them! You hung them up like they were some damn meat in a butcher's shop!" Her voice grew into a shout and Scar cringed back at the loud noise.

He was confused by her words. Their differences in culture threw him for a loop.

He typed into his gauntlet again and paused to listen to the rough translation and memorize it before speaking again. "They. . . .werrre. . .weak. . . . . wwwhy. . .haaaavvve. . .thhhhem. . .ppprotttecttt. . .yyyou?" He hadn't realized how much of a pain speaking their language was when he couldn't pronounce some of their sounds the same way they could.

Although it was an honest and simply curious question, Lex thought it was an insult.

"Why?! Are you kidding me?! That's your excuse for killing them?!" She shouted. Scar frowned, two mandibles drooping lower than the chin of his mask, and typed into his gauntlet again.

"Nottt killll. . .ttttest. . .thhhey fffaillleddd. . ." He tried to convey his meaning to her.

In his culture, part of their hunting was also to test themselves. They believed heavily in weeding out the weak and only letting the strong and smart live on and breed. To them, the hunt also provided this chance to other species as well. They simply weeded out the weak from the strong so that species could be more challenging in the future as well.

He didn't quite understand the regard for life humans held dear.

"Test?" Lex said in confusion. Her shoulders slumped and she leaned against the old freezer as she thought about all the knowledge she had on these creatures. Thanks to Sebastian, they pieced together that this was a warrior race. They thrived off of hunting other species. They reminded Lex of the Spartans. Only the strong survived.

And that's when it clicked.

Lex slumped to the floor and held her knees with her hands as she let her head droop with a sigh. Scar tilted his head at her curiously and waited for something to happen. Lex frowned at him. "You've been trained to hunt us too, haven't you. . ." It wasn't really a question, though it was phrased as one.

Neither moved for several seconds before Scar slumped down against the freezer as well and sat by her. He nodded his head at her in confirmation.

Lex frowned and tightened her arms around her knees. "Did you kill them because. . .they weren't strong enough for your standards?" Scar didn't immediately reply back, but when he did, he simply nodded. He typed into his gauntlet again and Lex waited for him to finish what he was doing.

He turned his head and spoke to her. "Innn. . .mmmy. . .cccllann. . .onnlly tthhe. . . ssttronng. . .mmay lllivvve. . . hunntt. . .anndd mmatte."

Lex realized he was having trouble pronouncing the words that required specific tongue and lip motions to make. She pieced together what he said and relayed it back to him. "In your clan, only the strong may live, hunt and mate?" Scar nodded his head eagerly, glad she understood him even with his bad pronunciations. He tapped on his gauntlet some more before speaking again.

"Hunntt alllowss. . .othhher. . .sssppecciessss. . .ttto. . . bbeccomme sssttronnger. . .ttoo."

Lex cocked her head at him and tried to reply what he said back. "The hunt allows other. . .species? . . .to become stronger too?" Scar nodded his head at her and she sighed.

Darwinism. The belief that only true survival could happen through an individual's abilities and strength. If you died, then you just weren't strong enough. This humanoid species not only practiced Darwinism, they enforced it!

Now it was all making sickening sense to Alexa.

She sighed. "Then you killing them. . .was just your way of making sure their genes didn't pass on?" Scar looked at his gauntlet first for her translation before nodding at her and typing away. "We fffighttt thhemm. . .anndd thhe ssttronng onnness llivve onn. . .I'mmm ssorry. . .ifff onne offff thhemm wass your mmatte."

Alexa mentally repeated what he said in her head. ' _We fight them and the strong ones live on. I'm sorry if one of them was your mate._ ' At that last sentence, she blushed and shook her head.

"None of them were my mate. I've never had a. . .mate. . .before." She thought about how awkward that sounded to call someone your mate. Apparently not that awkward, actually. Scar tilted his head and typed once more. "Were thhey. . . nnott your. . . ccllann?"

' _Were they not your clan?_ ' Lex automatically repeated in her head.

She shook her head at him. "They were just people I was temporarily working with. Trust me, I had no intention of ever mating any of them." Though she had to admit, Sebastian did pop up in her mind momentarily when she said that. She realized guiltily that maybe she had somewhat thought about. . .mating one of them. At least going on a first date, if possible.

Scar tilted his head at her and typed once more. "Iff. . .onnlly workkk ffor. . .ssshortt ttimme. . .wwhy. . . mmournn thhemm?"

Lex had a little trouble figuring out that one. "If only working for a short time, why mourn them?" She repeated back. Scar nodded and Lex bit her lip as she thought of how to explain this.

She let go of her knees and stretched out her legs on the floor while pointing her toes.

"We. . .are very preservative of life. . .we don't like seeing death, even to strangers, because. . .it means someone is going to be hurt by the loss. That person that died is never going to come back, especially to the people that need them. Each person is unique. . .and with death, that uniqueness that person brought is forever gone now."

She turned her head to look at him. "Does that make sense?"

Instead of responding in words, which she was sure tired him out to try and form, he made a so-so motion with his hand. Lex sighed and didn't look up at Scar when she heard him typing again.

"I'mm ssory. . .I hurttt yyou. . ."

Lex had to smile at his attempt at having a remorseful tone while speaking a language that was hard for him. She had to admit, with the knowledge she just gained and with how sweet he had been to try and comfort her and make up for his actions, she just couldn't stay mad at him.

Lex stood up and reached a hand down to help him. "Apology accepted." She softly said, and wiggled her fingers to let him know she was offering a hand up.

When Scar took her hand and she tried to pull him up, she just ended up falling down on top of him with a crash. She hadn't realized how heavy he was!

Scar couldn't help but put a hand on his stomach and click his mandibles rapidly. Lex realized he was laughing at her like he did in the pyramid when he pranked her. "Ha ha, very funny." She said, but couldn't help the smile that snuck on to her lips.

Scar laughed some more and Lex stood up while dusting herself off.

"Come on big guy." She grinned. "I've got to go explain to the others what we just talked about." When he cocked his head at her, Lex went on to explain. "It's probably better if we didn't have tension in this alliance. Especially not when we're going to be hiding you on our ship."

Scar nodded at her and braced a hand against the freezer before hoisting himself up. He nearly knocked the appliance over in the process.

Lex turned around and together they walked back out to the mess hall.

* * *

 _Author's note: This chapter was a pain in the butt to write! Simply because of how I tried to misspell the words when Scar was talking._

 _I hope you all can read that gibberish. If not, I am deeply sorry. I tried here._


	20. Who Are You Really Mad At?

Scar stood behind Lex as they walked out. He was happy that she at least forgave him. How she was going to convince the other ****lou-dte kales**** to forgive them as well, he had no idea.

He went and stood beside Chopper, Celtic, and Yeyinde as Lex approached her ****ooman**** friends. Chopper noticed his calm demeanor and stood up straighter. "You talked to her?" He asked. Scar nodded his head. "It was hard to speak their language. But she apparently understood me enough." He replied.

Celtic tilted his head at him. "What did you say?" He asked.

Scar shrugged. "Not much. She kind of figured out why we did what we did on her own." He replied. Celtic frowned at him and turned his eyes on the tallest _lou-dte kale_ in the _ooman_ group. "And she. . .forgave us just like that?"

Scar nodded. "At least, it seems like she did. She said she's going to explain to the others as well and help the tensions cease."

Celtic grunted and leaned his weight against a rotted wooden table, watching the _oomans_ as they interacted with each other. Scar and Chopper spoke still while Yeyinde approached Celtic. He placed a gentle hand on the newly blooded's shoulder. "Something troubles you." He softly said.

Celtic frowned. "It's nothing." He insisted.

Yeyinde tilted his head at him. "You were never good at lying." He said. Celtic's mandibles drooped lower. "I. . .may have. . .messed this alliance up beyond repair. . .at least between me and. . .Atheeena." He tried to say her human name, but it was hard for him. Yeyinde tilted his head. "How so?"

"I. . ." Celtic didn't know how to explain it. Instead, he handed his mask over to Yeyinde. "You can watch for yourself." He softly said.

Yeyinde took his mask and studied it before motioning Scar and Chopper over as well. "I might as well review your ****chivas**** while we're here." He declared. Scar and Chopper handed Yeyinde their masks as well and he stood up with them in his arms. "I'll be back. Stay out of trouble." He gave Chopper a pointed stare, who grinned innocently back at him like he could do no wrong.

"I wouldn't dare try it!"

* * *

Lex was glad to find that Lucinda was better now.

Athena was rubbing her back and instructing her to breath as Luci sat up and held on to Athena's shoulder for balance. Lex knelt down and Lucinda smiled sheepishly at her. "I guess this is a bad time to say I get anxiety attacks often." She said. Athena nodded and gave her a flick to the back of her head. "You should have at least told me before we even got off the Piper Maru." She scolded.

Lucinda rubbed her head while Lex took a seat next to them.

"So I talked to Scar." She began. Athena rose an eyebrow at her while Lucinda frowned. "Talked as in a two way conversation?" Athena asked. Lex nodded. "Mostly. It's kind of hard for them to try and pronounce our words. But anyway. . .I found out why they did it."

Neither girl needed to ask "did what?" They both knew what Lex was talking about.

Lex shifted on the seat. "To them, that wasn't hunting. It was. . .sort of a culling. In their eyes, they were just getting rid of the ones who didn't seem fit enough to. . .keep living. Kind of like. . .very violent selective breeding."

Lucinda looked up at her with wide eyes while Athena kept her eyes lowered to the floor, pretending to check her bag while she listened.

It was silent for several seconds before Lucinda spoke up. "Then why didn't they. . .kill me? I'm not exactly a challenge to anyone." Lex shrugged. "I don't know. Which one was it that spared you?" Lucinda gestured with her head over to the group of humanoids. "Pau- ****I mean****. . .Chopper." she said. "Then you'll have to ask him." Lex said, ignoring her slip.

Lucinda frowned and Athena stood up. "That doesn't make what they did right. They're not justified for this. . .senseless murder!"

Lex and Lucinda were silenced by her outburst for a moment. They noticed that the usual clicking and clacking sounds coming from the humanoids stopped too. Lex and Lucinda gave Athena concerned looks as she stared at the ground. "Athena." Lex softly called her name.

Athena reluctantly looked at Lex, but lowered her tightened shoulders at the expression on the other woman's face.

Alexa Woods bit her lip. "Are you mad at all of them. . .or are you really mad at. . . ** **him****?"

Athena knew who she was implying. She sighed and sat down again. "Are you a therapist now?" She tried to joke. Lex gave her a weak smile. "I once considered the profession at some point." She admitted. Athena sighed. "Yes. . .yes I am mad at him. The others a little bit as well, but he. . .he especially has caught my anger."

Then she stood up abruptly, rubbing her shoulders.

"I'm going to go see if there's a good place to start a fire somewhere. Lex, did you say the kitchen was connected to the back?" Lex nodded her head and Athena turned in that direction. "I'll go see if they've got a stove or even a fire pit I can warm up."

She walked off and Lucinda stood up as well. "I'm going to explore a bit."

Then she looked at Lex. "I'm not. . .100 percent sure I can forgive them either. At least, not yet. I need time away from them to think." Lex nodded at her. "That's understandable. There should be some side rooms here if you want to look in those and maybe have some privacy." She advised.

"Thank you." And with that, Lucinda walked away.

* * *

The yautja watched the _ooman_ group break apart and go their separate ways.

Scar nudged Chopper and Celtic forward. "Now's your chance." He said to them. Both hesitated. "She might want her time alone right now." Chopper said. Celtic had several reasons for not wanting to approach Athena right now. One of them being that he didn't want to seem like he had blatantly followed her.

He didn't need her pissed at him more.

Scar hissed at them. "Would you prefer this alliance to keep getting worse? We need to fix things now, or they might not let us board the ship. Or worse, give us away to the other _oomans_. We only have until tomorrow for that decision to be made."

Chopper held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright. . .I'll go check on my _ooman_."

And with that, he walked off. Scar turned an expectant eye on Celtic, who grew irritated at him. "Just give me a moment!" He snapped. "I. . .need to think of what to say." Scar rolled his eyes. "Fine. But don't wait too long, or you might not get her alone again."

Scar left Celtic's side to go sit by Lex, who rose an eyebrow at him as he approached.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that Celtic finally worked up the nerve to go fix things with Athena.

* * *

In the back of the mess hall, in a very old and dilapidated kitchen, a fire roared in an old brick fire pit that attached to the wall with a chimney to let the smoke out.

It was there that Athena pulled out the red hot kitchen knife she had found and stuck in the fire to heat up to searing temperatures.

Then she held that hot knife to her marked cheek and didn't scream when it burned her skin.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **lou-dte kale:**** Child bearer/ female

- ** **ooman:**** human

- ** **chivas:**** trial

 _I'm really hungry, so this is where the chapter stops. Bye for now!_


	21. Forgiveness Vs Trust

Lucinda found some of the secluded rooms Lex had told her about.

It seemed the previous occupants of the whaling station wanted to be close to the food at all times. The rooms connected to the sides ended up being bedrooms. Luci found that each room contained a bunk bed and a work desk. Or at least, the remains of them.

Lucinda chose the one that looked the least run down and decided to occupy herself in it.

The top bunk had mold growing on it, so the bottom bed was her only choice for sitting. She looked over at the chair that went with the work desk and decided against testing her weight on it.

She dusted off the bed with her gloved hand the best she could before sitting on it.

To her surprise, the bed was stuffed with. . .some sort of soft material, and wasn't supported by springs like modern ones. She sunk right in, and nearly fell through the bed boards as well. Laying down flat to distribute her weight evenly, she finally allowed herself to relax.

She was going to let her mind wander. An idea that she came to conclude later would have been a bad idea with her anxiety problem.

Instead of getting a chance to think, she heard the door creak open and surprisingly soft footsteps enter her room. She cracked an eye open and saw that it was the humanoid she was trying to avoid in the first place. She sighed before sitting up, and nearly sank through the bed frame on the mattress in doing so.

"Do you need something?" She asked politely, no trace of anger or disdain in her voice.

Lucinda was most certainly mad at him, but she had always had a hard time showing her anger at others. Sometimes her refusal for much needed confrontation got her so strung up that she'd just suddenly burst into another panic attack. This usually led to heavy tears later on.

She watched Chopper as he didn't say anything, but went over and grabbed the chair. He brought it over beside her claimed bed and sat down in it with a heavy thud.

When he completely broke through the chair and fell to the ground in a flailing heap, Lucinda had to hold her stomach and bite hard on the insides of her cheeks to keep from laughing. He stood up and kicked the broken pieces away angrily, and she just couldn't hold it in anymore.

Some of the tension left the room as the sound of her laughter replaced it. Chopper didn't mind her laughing at him if it meant she was no longer angry at him. Or at least, not completely angry.

Lucinda sat up on the frame of the bed and wiped away at the stray tears that had gathered in her eyes from laughing so hard. At first she smiled widely at him, then stopped herself when she remembered the problem they still had. Her shoulders slumped and Chopper sat up on the floor facing her.

Silence controlled the room for several minutes before either broke it.

". . .I'm. . .sorry. . ." Chopper voiced out after typing on his gauntlet. Lucinda's head whipped up and she stared at him as he typed some more. ". . .I. . .have. . .no. . .excuse. . .for. . . .what. . .I. . .did. . . . . . . .I'm. . .not. . .good. . .with. . .words. . .so. . . .all I. . . .can. . .say. . .is. . .I'm sorry."

It took Chopper nearly two minutes for each word he said. He would type what he'd want to say into the gauntlet and then spend some time sounding out the words in his throat and in his mind before saying them. His pronunciation was better than Scar's because of this, but it still took a long time for him to say anything.

Lucinda was actually stunned into silence by this, and found that she couldn't be mad at him for trying to fix things.

She eased herself off the frame and sat by him on the floor. "Lex said. . .that you killed those guys because they were. . .I guess too weak for your standards. . .and then something about selective breeding."

Chopper frowned at her, but slowly nodded his head. He was afraid that this was going to set her off again.

Lucinda bit her lip and looked at the floor before speaking again. "If you killed them because they were weak. . .then why didn't you kill me?" She softly asked. Chopper typed into his gauntlet again before speaking.

"I. . . .thought. . .you. . .were. . a. . . . child. . ."

Lucinda looked up at him. "You don't hunt children?" Chopper shook his head at her and typed some more. ". . . . . .Dishonorable. .to. . .kill. . . .children." Lucinda nodded her head but frowned at him. "If you had known that I was an adult instead of a child, would you have killed me then?"

There was a long moment of silence again, but this was due to Chopper concentrating on typing his response.

". . .No. . . you. . . . .helped. . .me." He then gestured to his broken arm. ". . .You. . . .saved. .my. . .life. .by. . . . .throwing. . . .rock. . .and. . . . . .helped. . .fix. .my. . .arm. . . . .mostly." He paused and typed even more words into his gauntlet.

"I. . . .would. . .not. . . .have. . . . .killed. . .you. . .but. .I. . . . .probably. . . .would. . .not. . .have. . . . .brought. . .you. . . .along."

Lucinda bit her lip and nodded at him as she pondered his answer. She tapped her fingers on her legs and Chopper found they made a rhythm with each tap. Chopper found he was subconsciously tapping along to her rhythm as well.

Lucinda sighed. "Look, I. . .I don't know if I can forgive you totally. . .for what you and your friends did out there-" Lucinda turned her head to look at Chopper, who was watching her intently. "But I think I can trust you fully."

Chopper tilted his head at her and typed into his gauntlet once more. ". . . .Thank. . .you. . ."

Lucinda nodded her head with a small smile and suddenly yawned. Sleepiness had suddenly overcome her and she found her eyes drooping with exhaustion at an alarming rate. The events of the day finally caught up to her, at least physically.

Chopper saw her leaning body and connected the dots. He knew humans required more rest than his kind.

He caught her falling body and placed her head on his lap. The ****h'dui'se**** coming off of the bed made him believe that it was unsuitable for anyone to actually rest on. He didn't have a blanket to cover her, a luxury both his kind and the ****oomans**** shared.

Instead he laid his meaty arm across her curled up body and hoped that was enough for her.

Chopper noticed how warm her small little body was, and fought the urge to curl up around her and sleep as well. He knew humans were warm blooded, so they generated their own internal heat. Contrary to his kind that relied on their surroundings for warmth.

He wondered if he felt naturally cold to her or if she could feel some heat coming off of him as well. At least from his mesh suit, anyway.

Finding himself growing tired as well, he leaned his head against the supporting bed post behind him and closed his eyes. Her head was keeping his thigh warm and he focused on her heat as he drifted off into sleep as well.

Both human and yautja shared a peaceful nap.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **h'dui'se:**** scent/odor/musk

- ** **ooman:**** human

 _I feel similar to Lucinda at the moment and just want to sleep all of my problems away. Good night to you all. I shall be conked out by the time you read this._


	22. Do You Hate Her?

Celtic stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he opened the door.

There was Athena with a knife pressed against her cheek. His thermal vision told him the knife was dangerously hot, and this caused him major concern. At first, he didn't know what she was doing until she pulled the knife away.

His clan's mark was now burnt off her cheek. Or maybe hidden underneath the fresh burn scar she had just given herself.

When she turned to look at him, her eyes held contempt and maybe some smug triumph. Celtic didn't know why it bothered him. He was trying furiously not to let the significance of her actions hurt as much as they actually did. It shouldn't! She was a ****ooman**** , she could remove the mark whenever she wanted to.

So why was his chest throbbing and stinging so bad?

Athena glowered at him and walked past him out of the kitchen and back into the mess hall. She made sure their shoulders didn't touch in the narrow doorway as she went through. When the door slammed shut behind her, Celtic felt his knees begin to tremble. He walked further in and pressed his weight against an old counter before sliding down to the floor and staring off into space.

He sat there for a solid ten minutes wondering what to do when the door creaked open again.

Celtic looked up to find Yeyinde looking down at him with his head cocked. Celtic frowned at him. "I, uhh. . .I came in here to. . .maybe fix things with Athena." He quietly clacked at the ancient. Yeyinde walked closer and rested against the same counter that Celtic had slumped against. "Well? Did you?" Yeyinde asked.

Celtic shook his head and his shoulders slumped down. "I think. . .things somehow became even worse."

Yeyinde nodded. "She burned the mark off her cheek." Celtic wondered how he knew that when the ancient answered his question. "I saw her before coming in here." ". . .I see." Celtic stared at the floor, not knowing how to respond. Yeyinde knelt down and sat on the floor next to Celtic. His old age and experience taught him that sometimes you had to get on someone's level in order to work things out. Whether that be on the floor or standing.

"Do you know why she burnt her mark off?" Yeyinde asked, though his eyes revealed that he already knew the answer.

Celtic shook his head no and the ancient went on. "She did it because of how it was given to her. She didn't do it because she was mad at us, or that she didn't feel like she didn't earn it. She did it because of how you treated her when you marked her." Yeyinde shifted on the floor while Celtic looked on gloomily. "Tell me, how did you treat her, Celtic?" The ancient asked.

Celtic frowned, feeling the shame come back and hit him again.

"I. . .I wasn't kind. . ." He admitted. Yeyinde nodded and Celtic went on. "I didn't want to mark her as my equal, so I took it out on her in anger. . ." "Do you hate her?" Yeyinde asked. " ** **M-di****!" Celtic exclaimed, putting more emphasis on it than he meant to. Yeyinde cocked his head at him and Celtic lowered his head sheepishly. "I. . .We were taught that we were the better species. That we were the best ****kv'var-des**** , fighters, and ****sain'jas****. I didn't want to admit that a _ooman_. . .was as good as me. . .maybe even better."

Yeyinde rose his head as he began to see where Celtic was coming from.

"Better than you?" Yeyinde asked. Celtic nodded. "I. . .only killed one ****kiande amedha****. . .she took on four." The ancient nodded. "I saw through your mask. So you were also mad that she killed more than you?" Celtic shook his head. "I was mad that. . .she could handle four while I nearly died to one."

"I see." Yeyinde said as he thought Celtic was becoming more slumped at the moment. "Were you also mad that she helped you with that kill?"

Celtic nodded. "I even thought she was trying to steal my kill." He admitted with embarrassment. Yeyinde cocked his head at him. " _Oomans_ don't know our way of life. They strive to preserve each other even when it is fruitless." "I know." Celtic said. "And I think that's why I don't hate her for saving my life. I don't hate her for denying me ****yin'tekai u'sl-kwe****. She didn't know and I was. . .unreasonably mad at her for that." He frowned while staring at the floor.

Yeyinde nodded and rose to his feet. "Then you need to tell her this."

He reached down and helped Celtic to his feet as well. Celtic brushed himself off and stared at Yeyinde. "How? She hates me now and I doubt she'll willingly be around me, much less talk to me, If I tried to fix things."

Yeyinde tilted his head at Celtic and shrugged. "You never know until you try." Then he looked Celtic in the eye meaningfully. "Celtic, I can tell that this entire time you've been afraid to approach her. You're entire life you've lived unapologetically, even for some of the wrong things you've done. You're going to have to learn that sometimes it's better to abandon your pride and apologize than it is to let your pride come between you and someone else."

Yeyinde turned and strode towards the door to leave. "Take your time to ponder this, but remember that the longer you wait the worse it'll get."

And with that, he left Celtic to think about his words.

* * *

( ** **20 minutes before**** )

When Athena marched out of the kitchen, she ran into Yeyinde not five minutes later.

He was carrying three masks with him and looked distracted when they literally ran into each other. The masks dropped and Athena immediately stopped and helped him pick them up. When she handed them back, Yeyinde was staring at her cheek.

Athena tried to subconsciously move her hair in front of the burn mark so he wouldn't see, but he stopped her.

"You got rid of it?" He asked. Athena nodded and stood up with him. "I promise It's got nothing to do with you or the others, it's just-" "Celtic hurt you while marking you." Yeyinde finished for her. When she asked him how he knew that, he gestured to the masks. "They record each hunt so we can examine them afterwards. Their masks saw your marking." "Oh." Athena replied and looked at the masks suspiciously.

Yeyinde looked at the door she just came out of and could tell that Celtic was in there. He began to form an idea.

"Athena." He said, grabbing her attention. She looked up at him and he held Celtic's mask out to her. "I'll go talk to him about what happened. The translator in the mask can help you listen in." Athena stared at him wide eyed. "You want me to eavesdrop?!" Yeyinde nodded. "You have every right to know why he did what he did."

Athena frowned. "What if the answer is more than I can tolerate?" She asked.

Yeyinde looked at the door before looking back at her. "You'll just have to find out. It's completely up to you." He pressed some buttons on the inside of Celtic's mask and handed it back. "There. It should repeat our conversation in your language now."

Athena hesitated for a moment, but took the mask.

She placed it on her face as Yeyinde went in.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Yeyinde came back out and Athena was waiting by the door.

She handed the mask back and looked a bit shaken up. Yeyinde took it and peered at her. "Was the answers you were given the ones you were looking for?" Athena bit her lip. "I'm not sure." She admitted. "I don't know how to feel about this."

Yeyinde gently clasped her on the shoulder and she looked up at him.

"Just let him come to you when he's ready. This is his mess he needs to fix." He advised. Athena nodded in agreement and the ancient looked over into the mess hall. "Meanwhile, I've got to talk to the other two."

Athena stepped aside while he walked off to go find Chopper and Scar.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **ooman:**** human

- ** **M-di:**** no

- ** **kv'var-de:**** Hunter

- ** **sain'ja:**** warrior

- ** **kiande amedha:**** hard meat/ xenomorph

- ** **yin'tekai:**** honor

- ** **u'sl-kwe**** : death

 _I swear, the yautja have thirty different ways to say the word death. Uggh!_

 _Anyways, here's chapter 22. I'm curious, am I updating too fast for some of you or just right? Let me know in the comments._


	23. Reviewing and Evaluating

_Auhtor's note: For those of you wondering, this is a repost. If you got a notification saying "Chapter 23 updated" or something along those lines yesterday, I deleted that chapter and edited it on my wattpad. This is the new one that I hope has more improvements. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chopper woke up at the sound of the door softly opening.

Unlike humans, yautja had acute hearing. And with their lifestyle, they were trained to wake at even the smallest of noises. Sometimes it made life difficult if you were pared with a partner that purred loudly in their sleep. Kind of like the human version of snoring.

Chopper whipped his head up to find Yeyinde entering the room.

He bowed his head and lowered his eyes in submission to the ancient, but Yeyinde waved him off. "I've reviewed your ****chiva****." He softly clicked at Chopper. Chopper grew excited, but had to sit still as not to awake Lucinda. Yeyinde closed the door behind him and hesitantly rested his weight against it.

"You performed honorably and have brought pride to your clan."

If Chopper could make as much noise as he wanted at the moment, he would. Instead, he just gave an excited but quiet trill in triumph. Since a _Chiva_ was like a test, being told you performed with honor was like getting an A. His biggest worry about his own _Chiva_ had been if his kill wasn't done properly. He had killed it when its focus was on Lucinda, and he had wondered if that was considered stabbing it in the back while it wasn't looking. A tactic his kind did not consider worthy of a true hunter.

Chopper pointed this out to Yeyinde and the ancient just shook his head.

"If you had been cloaked, I might have considered that possibility. But your gauntlet was damaged beyond repair and therefor it was the ****r'ka**** 's fault for not devoting its attention to challenging you. It chose the ****ooman lou-dte kale**** as its prey and paid the price. There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of your enemies carelessness as long as it's solely their doing." He explained.

Chopper gave a sigh of relief and Yeyinde shifted against the door.

"I do have concerns however, about her." Yeyinde gestured with his head towards the still sleeping Lucinda. "What concerns?" Chopper asked. Yeyinde held up Chopper's mask and pressed a button inside. A holographic recording began to play while being projected from the eye sockets.

The recording was of Lucinda killing the ****Kiande Amedha****.

Both Chopper and Yeyinde frowned. "You say she doesn't remember doing any of this?" Yeyinde asked. Chopper clacked his mandibles in confirmation and Yeyinde's own mandibles drooped further. "I don't think she was aware she was even doing it before she forgot." Chopper added. Yeyinde rubbed his mandibles together as he pondered this. "You mean as if she was being controlled?" He asked. "I mean as if she was ****dhi'ki****." Chopper corrected.

"The clan. . .may not look at her kills as legitimate then." "What?! Why?!" Chopper exclaimed.

Yeyinde gestured towards the holograph. " ** **Sei-i**** , it's ****very**** impressive that she killed them. But if it was a fit of rage that made her lose control and kill them, the other evaluators may not see her kills as triumphs that were done using her skills. If she was not truly in control of herself when she did this. . .they may call it a fluke."

Chopper's mandibles lowered even further in a frown.

"What would happen if they did see her kills as a fluke?" He asked. Yeyinde looked at Lucinda and then back at Chopper. "They would take away her mark. . .and then possibly question your judgement. . ." Chopper knew what he meant. "As in they would reconsider whether I was worthy to hunt again." He elaborated.

Yeyinde clacked a " _sei-i_ " at him and Chopper felt a small twinge of worry come over him.

"How could I prove her kills are legitimate?" Chopper asked. Yeyinde picked at his teeth with a claw blunted by age as he thought about it. "Your best chance would be to get her to remember that she did it. If she can remember it, then the other evaluators can't claim that she had no actual control over herself."

Chopper nodded and Yeyinde shoved himself off of the door.

"I've got to talk to Scar about his _Chiva_ now. You stay out of trouble." He gave Chopper a pointed look, who lightly clacked his mandibles in a yautja chuckle. "I won't. . .at least, not while she's sleeping." "Chopper-" "I'm not being serious about that!"

Chopper grinned at him with two mandibles raised and Yeyinde squinted his eyes at him suspiciously before leaving.

* * *

Scar was in the middle of working on his English pronunciation when Yeyinde approached him.

He was training with Lex, who was trying her best to help him. It didn't quite work out as well as they'd hoped, since their different mouths made visual learning nearly impossible. Scar didn't understand how her tongue and lips reshaped the sounds in her words, and Lex couldn't fathom how he could pronounce her words at all with absolutely no mouth or visible tongue to do so.

When Yeyinde came forward, both turned their attention toward the ancient and he greeted them warmly.

" _If you don't mind Lex, I need to speak with Scar in private._ " Yeyinde politely said. Lex nodded and stood up. She spotted Athena, who looked a little lost in thought, and strode over to go make conversation with her.

Scar turned his attention towards the ancient.

"Why did you send her away?" He asked the ancient. Yeyinde took a seat next to Scar before answering. "I just didn't want her to feel awkward as we speak in our own way. Your results are fine, you brought honor to yourself and your clan."

Scar pounded his fist on the table in a show of triumph, which earned looks of concern from the two nearby _oomans_.

Yeyinde and Scar ignored them as they continued conversing. "Both you and Lex did well. I'm sure you're glad to have spared her life in the end." Scar nodded at this. "I would have been overwhelmed had she not taken out the one _r'ka_ that got past my guard." He admitted. Unlike Celtic, Scar had a fair amount of humility that allowed him to admit his faults. He always strove to fix them.

Yeyinde nodded. "That mistake has been noted, but it was rectified. It won't be held against you." He assured Scar. "Though you may hear some griping from the other elders."

Scar thanked him and Yeyinde stood back up. "Now all that's left is Celtic." He looked over at the two ****lou-dte kales**** and picked up a part of their conversation with his still keen hearing.

"And I think I'll do that right now."

* * *

Lex approached Athena while Scar and Yeyinde talked behind her.

Actually, clicked and clacked at each other would be more appropriate of a description of what they did. It kind of reminded Lex of Morse code, but way more complicated and intricate.

"You look a little lost." Lex said to Athena as she approached. Athena shook herself out of her daze and mildly stared as Alexa advanced towards her. Athena slightly nodded her head at her. "Just. . .confused on what to do." She admitted. Lex cocked an eyebrow at her.

"About Celtic?" She asked quietly.

Athena nodded and both girls suddenly jumped as Scar's fist pounded on the table away from them. Lex rolled her eyes at Scar's behavior and brought the conversation back around. "Has he. . .done anything else since-" Lex stopped herself when she noticed that Athena's mark was gone. Lex frowned at her. "You burnt it off?" It was a rhetorical question, but Athena nodded.

"I. . ." Athena couldn't finish and Lex put a hand on her shoulder. "There's no need to explain. . .it's pretty obvious why you did it." She said.

Athena nodded and Lex dropped her hand. "Anyway. . .I found food earlier in the kitchen. You want to help me make it edible again?" She grinned. Athena shook her head. "He's in there, and I don't want to be around him right now."

Right then, Yeyinde picked up their conversation from across the room and strode into the kitchen.

Ten seconds latter, he walked out with Celtic and took him to a different part of the building. Lex looked back at Athena and shrugged. "I guess we can go in there now."

Athena gave a weak chuckle and followed her in.

* * *

Yeyinde called Celtic out of the kitchen and took him to one of the private rooms attached to the hall.

Closing the door behind them, he turned back to Celtic. "I've reviewed your _chiva_." He said. Celtic perked up and listened intently as Yeyinde continued. "Your _Chiva_ was done with honor. . .your conduct with comrades however, is in question."

Celtic cocked his head at him. "How so? I wasn't aware I had slighted Chopper or Scar." He replied, thinking only of his two official comrades.

Yeyinde clicked his mandibles in mild irritation at the blooded warrior. "I'm not talking about them." ". . . ****ki'sei****. . ." Celtic let his lower mandibles droop. ' _Athena._ ' He thought in his head. Yeyinde gestured back towards the door. "The other evaluators will not look kindly on how you handled her marking. Although marking a _ooman_ as your equal is admittedly not favorably looked on, it is still expected to be done with respect and the same grace you would do to yourself or your fellow kindred."

' _I'm just not going to be able to be forgiven of this, am I?_ ' Celtic thought vehemently.

Yeyinde scowled at him, mandibles flaring. "It may cause you to lose some trust among your clan if you let your temper control yourself like that." Celtic unintentionally smacked his mandibles together in fear as the reality of this settled in. Having a lack of self control meant he would be excluded from hunts until he proved he could be trusted. A lack of self control meant his betters would question how well he could follow commands, and that was not tolerated amongst his kind.

Celtic bowed his head in shame and lowered his eyes to the floor.

Yeyinde was not the type who liked a poor mood, even if it was caused by bad news he had to deliver. He did not know how to bring this situation around, but luckily Chopper barged in at that exact moment. He smirked at Celtic, having overheard the conversation.

"I don't know how well they'd look upon you kissing her either." "WHAT?!" Celtic exclaimed in outrage and disbelief that Chopper was there.

Chopper began to laugh at him and Celtic furiously defended himself. "I never kissed her!" He insisted to his comrade, who only clacked in laughter further. "Sei-i, you did. I saw the recording of it when we rested on the surface while Scar finished his _Chiva_. Your helmet was facing you while you were swarmed by the _r'ka_ pups."

A kiss amongst the yautja was performed by pressing each other's mandibles together and gently rubbing the skin of each one. It was the sign of deepest affection and was hardly ever done, even among mates. The only times Celtic had ever heard of a kiss being performed was among single mates. These were mates that had abandoned the practice of harem mating for one reason or another and dedicated themselves to a monogamous mating instead. These were the most intimate of relationships, but were hardly ever done.

Celtic glared at Chopper in spite as his friend laughed at him. "You may not have kissed her in ****our**** way, but you don't know how _oomans_ kiss." He humorously said.

Celtic was completely baffled as Chopper carried on. " _Oomans_ kiss with the flesh around their mouths. The flesh called lips. They don't always have to kiss each other on the mouth like we normally do. So ****sei-i**** , you kind of kissed her."

Yeyinde would be lying if he said he didn't find deep amusement from the look on Celtic's face as he clacked rapidly in order to defend himself. Too rapidly to form actual words, and was the yautja form of a stutter.

Yeyinde set Celtic's mask aside and watched for a moment as Chopper mercilessly teased Celtic before leaving them to their squabble.

' _Pups._ ' He thought exasperatedly in his head as he left.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **chiva:**** trial

- ** **r'ka:**** Xenomorph

- ** **ooman:**** human

- ** **lou-dte kale**** : child bearer/ female

- ** **Kiande Amedha:**** hard meat/ xenomorph

- ** **sei-i:**** yes

- ** **ki'sei:**** I agree/ I understand

- ** **dhi'ki:**** Unconscious

 _So I might be taking a break this weak from updating as often as I have been. I'm not tired or anything, I've just given myself a project that's going to require a lot of attention. So If I update, it'll be because I'm done with the project._

 _See ya!_


	24. Different Diets

Lex and Athena stared at the frozen food that they had gathered together.

"That's. . .oddly a lot. I thought the veggies would have at least rotted before freezing over." Athena commented. Lex nodded and rose an eyebrow. "Well. . .the explosion that wiped out the whale hunters here damaged a lot of the buildings. Enough that this kitchen couldn't keep out the cold anymore." "True." Athena said. "Now how will we get it thawed again?"

"We have another problem." Lucinda suddenly added behind them.

Both girls jumped and whirled around to see the third girl awkwardly wave at them. "Where have you been?" Athena asked. Lucinda shrugged. "I took a nap in one of the rooms I found." She explained. She decided they didn't need to know about taking a nap with Chopper, even if it was just with her head in his lap.

Athena gestured at her. "Short nap. Anyways, what other problem do we have now?" She asked.

Lucinda pointed at the door. "We have no idea what they eat or how much." She answered. Lex and Athena felt like facepalming themselves for not thinking of this in the first place. Lex tapped her foot. "Who wants to go out and ask?"

Athena instantly stepped back and put her hands up, signaling that she was out of the group for this.

Lex looked at Lucinda and Lucinda looked at her. Lex sighed. "I'll go ask. In the mean time, you two figure out how to unthaw the food." Athena and Lucinda nodded. "Aye aye captain." Athena joked. Lex rolled her eyes but grinned and walked out of the kitchen.

Athena and Lucinda turned back towards the food pile and made varies poses of pondering.

"We could maybe boil the veggies? Or at least, put them in something warm." Lucinda suggested. Athena looked over at a nearby cauldron looking pot and then back at the still burning fireplace. "I can go haul in snow and melt it in the pot if you want to restock the fire." She offered. Lucinda nodded. "I am A-Okay with that."

Athena picked up the cauldron and went out the back door to the snow. Lucinda went to get more firewood.

* * *

Lex looked around the mess hall and spotted Scar.

He was sitting by himself, but was apparently watching something interesting. Lex turned her attention ahead of him and saw that Celtic and Chopper were wrestling on the ground about five yards away.

Lex scowled. ' _Boys._ ' She thought in her head sarcastically.

Approaching Scar, she tapped him on the shoulder and he whipped his head around at the sudden touch. His dreadlocks ended up smacking against her, but she ignored the weird appendages for right now.

She took a seat next to him and he watched her curiously with a head cocked.

Lex intertwined her fingers together. "I forgot to ask you." She began. "What do you eat?" Scar clicked at her curiously before putting his mask back on. He made an awkward gesture with his hand and Lex rose an eyebrow at him. "Need me to say that again?" She asked. Scar nodded at her and patiently waited for her response.

"What do you eat?" She asked. "And about how much?"

Scar made curious clicks at her before pushing some buttons on his gauntlet. A minute or two later, he responded. "You. . .cccall itt. . .mmeatt. . ." He said. "Anndd. . .ssomme. . .rroottt bbasssedd. . .ppllannttss."

"Meat and some root based plants?" Lex repeated back to him. Scar nodded at her and Lex sat back in thought. "You still haven't said how much though." She pointed out.

Scar typed away again and tried to twist his hardly used voice to fit her words. "Unnttilll. . .we'rrre. . .fffull. . ." He raised his palms up and flexed his fingers, which Lex interpreted to be their version of a shrug. She sighed. "Should I just expect it to be a lot then?" Scar nodded and stretched his arms out to his sides as far as they could go. Lex paled. "A lot, a lot?" Scar cocked his head at her curiously for her choice of wording, but nodded his head and hoped it was the right response.

Lex sighed and stood up. "Alright. . .we'll go see how much we have then." She turned to leave, but then quickly had to stop herself and turn back around.

"Do you guys eat it raw or cooked?" She asked. Scar had just taken off his mask when she had stood to leave, and hadn't understood what she asked when Yeyinde approached. "Raw." He answered Lex. Lex bit her lower lip and turned to Yeyinde. "That might be a problem." She admitted. Yeyinde cocked his head at her. "How so?" He asked. Lex gestured back towards the kitchen. "The meat is completely frozen over. We'd have to heat it up to make it edible again, or leave it out to defrost on its own, which could take several days." She explained.

Yeyinde nodded at her, but didn't look concerned. "We can consume it if it has been prepped in your fashion, but it is not the healthiest choice for us." He explained.

Now Lex cocked her head at him. "You guys can eat it cooked, just not for long periods of time?" She asked for clarification. Yeyinde nodded. "We'll lose much needed. . .what was the word? . .nutrients, if we consume it the way you prepare it. But for temporary survival, it is doable." He confirmed. Lex nodded and turned back towards the kitchen. "If that's the case, then we'll try and see how much blood we can reserve in your steaks." She joked.

Yeyinde thanked her, then turned to the two wrestling yautja and barked something at them. Both immediately stopped fighting and sprung to their feet, striding toward the kitchen quickly. Scar followed close behind them and Lex rose an eyebrow at Yeyinde.

"May I ask what you just told them to do?" She questioned.

Yeyinde rose his hand towards the retreating boys. "To go help with the preparations." He said. "Oh." Lex replied. "That's not necessary. We can handle it." She commented, her hospitality manners coming out from when her dad had guests over for special dinners. Yeyinde shook his head. " ** **M-di****. They have to. A hunter is no good if they cannot provide for themselves, and no yautja may take part in a feast unless they have put in their share of work for the reward." He explained. Lex was admittedly shocked. "That's a legitimate rule of your culture?" She asked. " ** **Sei-i****. If a hunter cannot perform the basic tasks of survival for themselves, they have no right to include themselves in the clan and their affairs. They have no right partaking in a feast unless they have given their effort for the event. Whether that be providing the food for the meal or preparing it."

Lex was blown away and Yeyinde chuckled at her.

"I know of your human customs and how you females have been separated from the males in these tasks for centuries." He admitted. Lex chuckled a bit, though it lacked a lot of humor. "You know how we've been confined to the kitchen and how they've been doing the hunting?" Lex asked. Yeyinde nodded. "A decision that we yautja admit we can't comprehend why you would do such things. Why limit yourselves on your survival skills?" He asked.

Lex opened her mouth, but found that she couldn't answer.

She shrugged. "I have no clue. You'd have to ask the people who started that tradition, and they're all dead now." Lex admitted. Yeyinde clacked his mandibles and looked past Lex. "I better go help as well. Our rule of effort applies to me too." He said.

Lex stood up and both made their way to the kitchen.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **M-di**** : No

- ** **Sei-i**** : Yes

 _I know I said I had a project, but I started getting withdrawals from not writing and posting chapters. Story telling really is my passion, and I hope to make it my official career one day._

 _I'm sorry if this chapter sounded a little too feminist for those of you cringing unnecessarily. I just really don't want to make their culture sound like a copy of one of ours. There can be similarities, but let's face it. Alien warrior race is going to have a lot of differences._

 _Hope you enjoyed it!_


	25. Small Steps First

Lucinda had a bit of a struggle on her hands.

A lot of the firewood was old and rotted. It looked like Athena had scavenged the few good pieces that were there for the fire she'd built before. Lucinda was also having a hard time trying to sift through the pieces without getting splinters. She kept stabbing herself until she decided that her gloves, though meant for the snow, could be used here.

Slipping them on, she dug through the large pile some more until a scaly and taloned hand appeared beside her and took the current piece from her lap.

Lucinda turned her head and spotted Chopper examining her piece of wood before setting it aside and cocking his head at her curiously. Luci pointed towards the fire place. "Athena's out getting snow for water, and we'll be heating it up there. We just need to get the fire bigger." She explained.

Behind them, Celtic had heard this information and went out the back door to go help Athena, and maybe even make things right with her.

Chopper pointed at the pile of wood and then pointed to the fire. ". . . .help?" He verbalized. Lucinda blinked at him. "You want to help me?" She asked. Chopper nodded and picked up a chopped log. He held it up to his mouth and spread his mandibles wide, inhaling a deep breath as he did so. Lucinda suddenly stared as the smallest blip of a forked tongue peaked up from the back of his throat and waved in the air in front of the log.

Then Chopper broke the log in half over his knee and showed the insides to Lucinda. It was completely hollowed out by rot and dead maggots.

Lucinda cringed. ' _So he's got a tongue like a snake then._ ' She thought to herself. ' _He's got no nose, so a sense of smell has to come from somewhere else._ ' She concluded, though her knowledge of how a tongue could smell ended there. His tongue didn't reach past his teeth anyhow, and he handed her half of the log. Lucinda wrinkled her nose at the log. "I don't think we want to use that one." She said, tossing the rotted wood into a separate pile.

Chopper picked up her method of organization quickly and helped her separate the good wood from the bad wood.

Lucinda was grateful for the help and the pair of them got it done in record time.

* * *

Athena was about to carry the cauldron full of snow inside when a familiar hand reached out and grasped the handle for her.

Her heart stopped as the heavy pot was easily lifted up by a muscular and scaly arm. She did not want to face him right now! Not when her head was in turmoil about whether she wanted to forgive him or not. Not when she was still angry about his ungratefulness for her saving his life!

She reluctantly turned to look at him, heart still pounding.

Yautja had extremely good hearing, and Celtic could easily pick up on her heart beat increasing. For a moment, he thought it was because she was scared of him. He didn't know why that bothered him, though in his defense he'd never been good at expressing his emotions. He'd never felt the need to.

Now he realized he'd have to. At least, for this to work.

He also realized his other problem would be communicating this to her. He was terrible at speaking their language and he had too much to convey for him to try. Then he looked at the helmet in his hands and the same idea Yeyinde had earlier clicked with him. He held it out to her and waited patiently for her to take it.

At first, Athena thought of refusing. She wanted to childishly scorn him and toss off his attempts at reconciling with her. But she remembered Yeyinde's words and reluctantly gave in. He was finally coming to her and she didn't like this burdensome feeling she was carrying around from his actions.

She took the mask and slipped it on. Celtic immediately began to clack at her once she did.

"I'm sorry! . ." Athena blinked at him as the mask translated his clicking and Celtic fervently tried to think of what else to add to make his apology sincere. "I. . .I don't hate you." He thought of the things he had admitted to the Ancient earlier and tried to go for that. "I was just. . .mad. . .because I had to mark you as my equal. . ."

Athena scowled from inside the mask and took it off. She handed it back to him and he tried to push it back towards her. Athena shook her head and pointed at herself then back at him. Celtic realized she was trying to talk to him back and clicked the buttons in his mask to switch translations before slipping it back on.

"Your equal?!" Athena exclaimed as soon as the metal face protector was on him. "Why is me being your equal such a bad thing?!"

Celtic took the mask back off, clicked the buttons again, and handed it back. Athena realized this would have to be their way of communicating for a while as she took it back.

The mask came on and Celtic explained. "Because we. . .don't like humans to be our equals." He clicked. Athena thought that the way the mask said the word 'human' was a little weird, but brushed it off as Celtic continued. "We don't like anyone to be our equals really. . .and I. . .thought I was being a disappointment to my clan because I had to be the one to mark you. . ."

Athena glared at him before handing the mask back. "Scar and Chopper had no problems with marking Lex and Luci." She snapped at him. "They had no problems with admitting that they were 'equal' to them!"

Athena took the mask back when he handed it over.

Celtic was admittedly silenced by her words. He had no ready response for why Chopper and Scar could happily mark their ****oomans**** and he couldn't. He couldn't explain why he had so much more pride than them and why he did the things he did. Not just to her, but to others as well.

With drooped mandibles, he gave an answer that pained him to admit out loud.

"Because they're. . .better than me." He looked at the floor in shame and embarrassment. Athena cocked her head at him, a gesture that he recognized, and continued on. "They. . .they're better at. . .being themselves than me. . .I've always felt I had to uphold the clan's honor, but they. . .they never let the possibility of dishonoring the clan bother them. . .where as I always did let it bother me."

Celtic felt beyond uncomfortable admitting all of this. He hoped the translator in the mask was good enough for this, because he already had a hard time finding the right words to convey. It was irritating him that there was a situation that he didn't have a firm idea of how to approach. Give him a fight and he could come up with a basic strategy to follow along the way in battle. Give him an argument and he could easily come up with the harshest things to say that could cut his enemy's moral down.

But give him someone who he had to apologize to and his mind was suddenly useless. Add to the fact that she's a _ooman_ and he certainly didn't know how to fix anything. Especially with their big cultural differences.

Athena was stunned by his confession.

Amazed would fit the description better. She knew he had a pride problem. She knew he was trying to set aside that pride to fix the problem here. She just didn't expect that he would go so far as to admit he was flawed for that pride. She didn't think he expected that either.

It was kind of impressive, she had to admit.

Athena sighed and handed the mask back. Celtic reluctantly took it and waited for her response. He pushed away the hopes that it would be anything good. Athena tapped her foot on the ground and pondered on what she wanted to say.

"I. . .don't know if I can forgive you. . .or trust you. . ." She finally responded.

Her response hurt worse than Celtic cared to admit. He still couldn't fathom why he was feeling put out that a _ooman_ was mad at him, but with her around he just did. Athena took a breath and continued. "What you did hurt. . .not just physically. . .I don't know if I'd ever put myself in your hands again, because now I'm afraid of how you're going to act out. I'm. . .afraid of you taking your anger out on me again because of something stupid."

Celtic flinched at her response and she continued on.

"And the forgiveness part. . .that's going to take a long while. . .not as long as the trust will, but. . .I'm not ready." Celtic's shoulders unintentionally slumped and he handed the mask back to her. Athena slowly slipped it on and Celtic tried to put on a brave face.

"I promise. . .I'll work to try and make it up to you." The mask translated to her from his clicks.

Athena didn't have many ideas for how he could do that, but listened as he continued. "I'll do whatever it takes. . .because what I did was inexcusable and I need to amend it. . .and if you never forgive me or trust me, then that's my fault for what I did in the first place."

He dropped his hands to his sides and stood up straight. "Athena. . .I'm sorry." He repeated, eyes showing the truth of his claim.

Athena was moved by his words. He wasn't the first prideful person she had met, and she knew apologies were some of the hardest things to do for those people. She could feel the burden of her anger and distrust of him slowly lift from her shoulders, but not fully.

She handed the mask back to him and spoke her piece as well. "If you try to make it up to me. . .then I will try and trust you again." She responded. "I promise."

Athena watched as Celtic's shoulders lifted as if a small burden was lifted from him as well.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **oomans:**** humans

 _I swear, having a cold is affecting my ability to write. This took three times longer to write than it normally would have. It's going to take at least twice as long to edit as well because of it. Gahhh!_

 _I also hope you all aren't too angry that I gave the yautja a tongue. I'm not going to lie, some parts of their anatomy bug the hell out of me. Like their vision. Or in this case, their ability to mimic our words or even eat meat without a tongue for help._

 _So I'm sorry if that pisses some of you off, but they've got tongues in this story now._

And yes. . .I, a 'professional' fanfiction writer, had to resist the urge to put in some "hard wood" jokes in the Lucinda and Chopper scene. Trust me, it was hard not to put some in parenthesis.

 _Anyways, hope you enjoyed this. I honestly enjoy writing fanfictions, and wish I had as much craving to write my own books as well. Sadly fanfictions seem so much easier to do._

 _See you all in the next chapter!_


	26. Wood and Water

Lex watched in amusement as Scar and Yeyinde tried to figure out the wood burn stove.

Much earlier before that, she had walked with Yeyinde into the kitchen and found Scar examining all of the old equipment curiously. He picked up a frozen metal spatula and smacked it down on the table several times before it broke. When he saw Lex, he held it out to her sheepishly. Lex rolled her eyes at his childish antics and took the tool from him. Yeyinde clacked at Scar, who responded back with clicks as well.

Lucinda came around the corner with a pile of wood in her arms, Chopper following close behind with his own wood as well.

Lucinda waved at Lex the best she could while still holding her pile. "Athena and Celtic are outside gathering snow for water." Luci informed her. Lex nodded and looked around. "Anything for me to do?" Lucinda shrugged. "Unless you can find a way to thaw the meat." She replied.

Lex had spotted the stove and pointed it out. "Maybe we can get that going and just set the meat on top with low heat on." She suggested.

Lucinda bit her lip as she looked at the contraption. "You want to try and get that thing to work?" She asked. Before Lex could reply, Scar stood forward. He clacked some words at them and Yeyinde translated. "He wishes to figure out the device himself." He said, pointing to the stove and then to Scar.

Lex looked at Scar, and noticed he seemed eager. "You want to try and get it started?"

Scar nodded at her and Yeyinde placed a hand on the young yautja's shoulder. "I will help him." He offered. Lucinda rose an eyebrow at him curiously. "You know how to work a stove?" She asked. " ** **M-di**** , but I can learn. If we are to use your technology for our survival, it is best we learn how to do so in the first place." He reasoned. Lucinda reached up in her pile and handed him a log. "Then you're going to need this for it." She responded.

Yeyinde took the log of wood from her and Lex tapped her foot.

"If you two have got that, is everyone ok with me looking around this place more to see what other supplies we have? Or am I needed in here for something else?" Lex asked. Lucinda shook her head for the group. "We should be good in here for a while." She answered.

Lex thanked her and walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

Athena came back in with Celtic moments later with a cauldron full of snow.

Athena directed Celtic to place it over the fire that she had already got burning from earlier. When they stood back and watched the snow melt into water, they realized they'd need more snow. It barely filled the bottom of the cauldron once it was melted!

"Ice expands and takes up more room than water." Athena muttered under her breath as she searched the kitchen for something they could scoop snow into.

Finding several pots, Celtic and Athena took the largest ones before going back outside into the biting cold. They had to make several runs that lasted for a good long while before the cauldron was even half way full. Athena had to keep from laughing when she saw how frustrated Celtic was becoming with their slow progress. She noticed that the melting snow fascinated him though.

"Is there no snow where you're from?" She asked.

Celtic had the mask on at the time and thankfully heard her question. He turned his head from looking at the cauldron and shook his head at her. " _M-di._ " He clacked before realizing that she didn't understand him. He handed her the mask and clicked again when she had it on. "M-di. Our planet is warm and our ****ju'dha**** is too. I've never seen _ju'dha_ in this form before." He explained.

The mask translated the words to Athena and she handed the mask back.

"Your water is warm? Just how hot is your planet?" She asked. Celtic handed the mask back once more before replying. "Our clean _ju'dha_ is warm. It lays in wells and pits for our needs. Our ocean is cold, but not as cold as the _ju'dha_ out there." He explained. "And our ****vayuh'ta**** is always moist, even near the hot volcanoes. Your _vayuh'ta_ is badly dry."

Athena handed the mask back and chuckled at him when he had it on.

"I think you'd love Hawaii then." She told him, remembering the few trips she had taken there with her family before. "The air is extremely moist and warm. Plus it's fun to try and surf." Celtic cocked his head at her and handed the mask back. "What is. . .ssurfffing?" He tried to sound out the word since there was not one in his language. Athena handed the mask back again. "It's where you take a board and try to ride the water waves." She grinned.

Celtic still had his head cocked at her and Athena shrugged. "I'll show you some videos of surfing when we get on the ship again."

Celtic wondered why she couldn't show him now, but decided not to argue and just be glad that she was at least casually conversing with him for now.

They went back to gathering snow soon after.

* * *

Lex had looked around the place and found all of the attached bedrooms.

She also found a bathroom, which grew her excitement greatly. Even though she was used to getting dirty on her expeditions, a hot bath was her favorite thing to do once her expedition was over. Hers technically wasn't over right now, but she figured that since they would be stuck here for the night, she might as well get clean and relax.

She inspected the tub (which surprised her that the old whalers would put that luxury in a publicly used bathroom), and found to her dismay that although the tub had a drain that would dump the water directly outside, it did not have a faucet.

Water would have to be brought in to make the bath.

She inspected the rest of the contents of the large bathroom and found how the large amounts of water was brought in. A door was attached to the bathroom that led directly outside. A wheel barrow and old shovel stood by the door for harvesting snow. Lex found something similar to what she saw in the kitchen for a stove, but the device was used for heating and dumping large amounts of water into the tub and nearby sink. A small pipe led from the heating basin and into the tub.

Lex saw that the device would require more wood, and returned to the kitchen to grab some.

That's how she found Scar and Yeyinde struggling over the stove. They had nearly torn the thing apart trying to figure it out. Lex chuckled and went over to them. "Need help?" She asked. Scar clicked at Yeyinde, who sighed in annoyance at him. "He insists that he's nearly got it working." The ancient translated to Lex.

Lex rolled her eyes and went over to Lucinda who was still sorting wood with Chopper.

"May I borrow some?" She asked. Lucinda gestured to the pile of good wood. "Help yourself. What's it for?" She asked. Lex picked up a few logs and hefted them in her arms. "I found a bath that needs these to work." Lucinda's eyes sparkled after she said this.

"I call next!" She declared with a grin, and Lex chuckled at her.

* * *

A good thirty minutes later and Lex was sitting in a warm bath that she was pretty sure outdid any spa in the world at that moment.

Her clothes were tossed to the side and laid close by the water heater so they could dry off. It took her five trips with the wheel barrel full of snow before the tub was actually filled. She had to wait several minutes for the water to cool down before she could jump in.

She didn't notice the main door opening until she heard the creaking of the hinges as it closed.

She shot out of the water quicker than lightning, only to find Scar staring at her. She squeaked in shock and fell back in the water, covering herself frantically. "What are you doing?!" She screeched. Scar cocked his head at her innocently, not knowing what he had done wrong. He had seen a weird heat signature with his mask and decided to investigate. He didn't care that she was naked, only that she was safe.

The ****h'dui'se**** coming from the tub revealed to him that it was just warm ju'dha, and that she was just taking a bath.

Lex sunk herself lower into the tub as Scar cocked his head at her. "Did you need something?" She snapped. Scar typed into his wrist gauntlet before replying. ". . .sssaw weirrddd hheattt. . . ccammme tto. . . mmmakkke sssure yyou. . .wwere. . .sssaffffe."

Lex blinked at him as she tried to put together his almost slurred words. "You saw a weird heat and came to make sure I was safe?" She repeated.

Scar nodded and pointed at the water in the tub. "Wweirrddd hheattt. . ." He pointed out. Lex sighed as she realized the misunderstanding. "It's just a bath." She said. Scar typed into his gauntlet once more. "I. . .fffigguredd thhattt. . .outt bby. . .nnow." Lex cocked her head at him. "Do you have bath tubs too?" She asked. Scar typed some more. "Sssimilar. . .onness. . ." He replied.

Then to Lex's horror he started stripping down right in front of her!

"What are you doing?!" She yelled as she turned her eyes away before his manhood was revealed. Scar cocked his head at her in confusion and typed on his gauntlet. ". . .Tttakking a. . .bbathhh wwithh. . .yyou." Even with his hard time of pronouncing her words, his tone still conveyed that he thought it was obvious what he was doing.

Before Lex could turn around and get on his case for stripping in front of her, she felt the water splash around her as Scar stepped into the tub.

Lex whipped her head around to yell at him to get out, but ended up getting an eyeful of his anatomy that she didn't want to see, and ended up yelping in embarrassment as she covered her eyes. Scar cocked his head at her, but lowered himself to the water and brushed his legs against hers as he tried to make room. The water nearly splashed over the edge of the tub with his added mass in the water.

Lex hesitantly looked up at him, and found that the important bits were hidden under the water, thankfully.

Their legs brushed together and neither knew what to make of the texture of each other's skin. Scar found out her skin was smooth, which felt weird but oddly nice. Lex found his scaly leg fascinating to feel, but she didn't dare let herself brush her leg against him more than she already was.

The silence was awkward, and conversation couldn't be made. Scar's mask lay discarded with the rest of his gear, so translating wasn't an option.

Lex was looking anywhere but at him. Scar frowned at her, his two mandibles reaching low to the water. What was the problem? Seriously! Group baths were common among his kind. Sure, some had their own personal ones, but where was the fun in that? You lost a lot of social time when you bathed alone. He didn't see the point in her being shy.

In the hopes of ridding her of this redundant awkwardness, he reached under the water and grabbed her hand.

Lex let out a tiny squeak, and Scar clicked his mandibles in a chuckle at her reaction. He gently tugged on her hand, pulling her slowly closer to him.

Lex initially didn't know why she went to him. She didn't want to see what his reaction would be if she denied him this. But she was also curious to see what he was planning to do. Scar gently tugged her towards him, but Lex made an effort to keep her breasts hidden below the water as she glided near him. She didn't perceive any lust in his eyes, so she didn't suspect that he was doing this for some sort of sexual gratification, but she still didn't want to take that chance.

Scar pulled her close until their torsos were nearly touching.

Lex tried hard not to look at him, or anywhere else on his body. She didn't want to send across the wrong message if he thought she was checking him out. But when he cupped her cheek and started running his thumb across her skin, her eyes snapped to his and a harsh blush overcame her flesh.

For several minutes, his hands just traveled along her face.

He'd brush his thumb over her nose and lips the most, and that's when Lex realized that he was just curious about her facial structure. She must look as weird to him as he does to her. When he started feeling her ears, she reached up with hesitant hands and started feeling his face as well. Scar jumped in surprise when she finally got comfortable enough to feel him back. He had wondered if she would remain stiff the entire time they were in there.

Her hands brushed over his mandibles and he unintentionally purred in sensual delight at the feeling. Both persons suddenly stopped and stared at each other as the realization of what Scar had just done settled in.

The edges of Scar's mandibles lit up in neon green as he blushed too.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **M-di:**** no

 ** **-ju'dha:**** water

- ** **vayuh'ta:**** air

- ** **h'dui'se:**** scent/ musk/ odor

 _I could feel you horny fangirls begging for a scene like this from afar. Here ya go!_


	27. Don't Touch the Dreads

"Where's Lex?" Athena asked as she and Celtic carried in the last of the snow.

Lucinda was helping Chopper rewrap his sling and Yeyinde was standing by a roaring wood stove that had frozen slabs of meat slapped on top of the surface. The wood pile was sorted out nearby.

Lucinda gestured towards the mess hall door with her head. "Lex found a bath and went to get it working."

"Really?!" Athena exclaimed in excitement.

Lucinda nodded at Athena. "I already called next!" She declared. "Dang it!" Athena griped, but went back to the cauldron to check the temperature of the water. Celtic approached Yeyinde and Chopper and asked them the same thing about Scar. When he received a similar answer that Athena was given, he grew suspicious. He could tell that Scar had taken a liking to his ****ooman**** by now. Whether it was an amorous attraction or something more of friendship, he didn't know yet. Either way, it concerned him. He might have been prideful, but Chopper and Scar were the ones that got themselves into foolish situations quite often.

He took his leave of the group and went to go find Scar.

* * *

Lex had to keep from laughing as now the tables had turned.

Scar was doing his best to look anywhere but at her. She noticed that the outsides of his mandibles had glowed a bright, almost neon green. She wondered if that was the equivalent of a human blush. Evidently, Scar's curiosity in her face had abruptly ended, as he dove his hands under the water after he had let out a purr. Lex didn't know the significance of a purr for their kind. She could make some inferences off of her knowledge on cat purrs, but that was the best she could do.

Either way, Scar had given up exploring Lex's face, but she hadn't.

In fact, his dreadlocks were the next thing she wanted to feel. Her eyes were playing tricks on her, and she couldn't quite tell if it was hair or actual flesh. It wasn't scaly like the rest of his skin, but it didn't have the right look like earth made dreads did either. These were too smooth.

While his head was turned away, Lex reached out, grabbed the base of one of his dreads, and slowly slid her hand down the length of it.

As soon as she had done that, Scar made a noise between a choked yelp and a screech of shock. He flung himself backwards from her and slammed against the edge of the tub, nearly tipping it over. He had risen himself half way out of the water and was looking ready to bolt. His eyes gazed at her with a mix of shock, indignation, and something else Lex couldn't name.

Lex frowned at him and rose her hands up in a 'peace' gesture. "Did I hurt you?" She asked frantically, afraid she had touched a painfully sensitive spot on him.

Scar cocked his head at her, not understanding what she was saying, but still felt on edge. He got out of the tub, limbs slightly trembling, as he picked up his mask and gauntlet. This needed communication, ****now****! He turned to find Lex was looking away from him again, and pointedly covering the sides of her eyes with her hands.

This _ooman_ confused the ****cjit**** out of him! First she stroked his dreads and then she turned her eyes away like she wasn't interested?!

Scar frantically typed in his gauntlet and tried to calm his racing heart down enough to focus on speaking in her words. He tightened his fist as his voice strained to speak to her. ". . .wwhy. . .ddiddd yyou. . .tttouchh mmy. . .ddrreaddss? . ."

Lex lowered her eyes and stared at his in confusion as well.

"What do you mean 'why did I touch your dreads'?! You were feeling up my face and I was curious what your dreads felt like!" She blurted out, stepping out of the tub as she did so to face him. Scar cocked his head at her and thought that was the dumbest reason for doing it! He typed some more in his gauntlet. "Yyou. . .ddonn'tt. . . knnow whattt. . .yyou ddiddd?" He asked. By the look in Lex's eyes and how her head was cocked, he concluded that she had no idea what she did that upset him.

Scar had no idea how well he could explain this to her, but he had to get across that his dreads were off limits.

He typed in his gauntlet and hoped the explanation he was about to do would be good enough. He stood up straight and looked at her. "Yyou. . .ppulllinng onn mmy. . .ddreadds-" He gestured to the long tendrils of flesh hanging from his head. "-ssamme asss. . . ppulllinng onn mmy. . . . . ." He couldn't finish the sentence, he was too embarrassed. Instead, he gestured at his still exposed mating piece and waited for her response.

Lex's face somehow became pale and then red in an inhumanly fast amount of time. Her voice squeaked out.

"You mean touching your dreads is the same as if I had touched your penis?!" She shrieked. Scar flinched as she said the word he had wanted to avoid, but nodded at her. He wasn't embarrassed by talking about it, it's just that the current situation made the subject of his mating piece awkward. Specifically because they were talking about ****his**** , and what she had just done to him.

Lex covered her face in embarrassment as the full scope of what she had done just hit her. She had unintentionally just yanked off Scar!

She wanted to melt into the floor and hide away from him. She had no romantic or sexual feelings for him, and had never wanted to give him the idea that she did. This situation not only embarrassed her, but made her worry that he was going to grow attached and think she was hitting on him!

She peaked out at Scar from behind her fingers and finally removed her hands when she saw that he was just as embarrassed by this situation as she was.

She sighed deeply and tried to be mature about this. "I'm so sorry Scar, I didn't know! Human hair doesn't. . .feel the same way yours does, and certainly doesn't react the same way either when you touch it." Scar cocked his head at her and typed again into his gauntlet. "Ittt. . .ddoessnnn'ttt? . . " He asked. Lex shook her head and held up a fistful of her hair. "This is a bunch of dead cells. It's got no nerves for feeling. I can feel when you tug on my hair and it pulls at my scalp, but that's about it." She explained, cheeks still tinged pink.

Scar stared at her in shocked wonder before responding. "Thhennn whhattt. . .iss itt. . .fforrr?"

Lex shrugged. "For keeping cool, mostly. It kind of acts like insulation against our neck and heads if we grow it out long enough." Now Scar cocked his head curiously at her, his original embarrassment nearly gone. His fingers made quick taps on his gauntlet. "Yyou. . .ccann'ttt ffeelll. . .annythhinng?" He asked. Lex made a so-so motion with our hands. "Not the way you can. The hair itself has no feeling, but my scalp is sensitive enough that I can feel when you've picked it up or if you start playing with it." Then she gave a slight chuckle. "Actually, if you rub at the base of our hair on our scalp, it feels more relaxing than anything. Most people don't mind if you play with their hair because of that."

Before they knew it, Scar's hand reached out and hovered by her head, waiting for her permission.

He was always a curious person. Not as curious as Chopper always was, but every now and then he would find himself testing the waters of something if he knew it was safe. He just needed to make sure Lex was fine with this and that it wasn't wrong for him to see for himself if her words were true.

Lex, seeing his curiosity and greatly appreciating the fact that he was respecting her boundaries, obliged him. She reached out, grasped his hand, and brought it the rest of the way to her scalp.

Scar at first froze when his hand made contact with her hair. He had worried that she would have a similar reaction like he did earlier. But once his hand settled into her strands, he couldn't help exploring. He moved his palm along her scalp and tangled his fingers in her locks. He observed her reaction and found to his amazement that her eyes fluttered closed, her shoulders drooped low, and she leaned her head further into his hand. A small breath of relief escaped her lips as his unintentional massage soothed her mind and body.

Their moment would have lasted further had the door not been hastily opened and Celtic entered in.

All persons froze as they stared at each other. Celtic hadn't heard Lex's explanation of _ooman_ hair earlier, and instantly assumed the worst was going on between them. Both Lex and Scar realized what this might look like to him, and Scar quickly untangled his hand from her strands while Lex kind of stayed frozen.

Celtic, internally freaking out, grabbed Scar by his shoulder and hustled him out of the bathroom. Lex was left alone to find a towel for herself.

Celtic pushed Scar into a separate room and slammed the door shut behind them. He whirled around and wailed on Scar. "Do you know what you were about to ****do****?!" He rapidly clicked in outrage. Scar tried to keep his temper under control. "It's not what it looks like." He calmly replied. Celtic clenched a fists angrily at him. "Not what it looks like?! You were both without your ****awu'asa**** on, and you were touching her. . .whatever the _oomans_ call it, like you were testing the possibility with her!"

Scar was trying hard not to just shove Celtic aside and walk out of there. He wished he had locked the door earlier now.

He took a deep breath to calm his frustration, and replied back. "Lex had touched my dreads out of curiosity. I explained why that was bad, and she explained that her _hair_ , as the _oomans_ call it, isn't the same as ours. They don't have feeling in them." Celtic had his head cocked curiously, and Scar continued. "So I wanted to make sure for myself, and I touched her hair. Nothing else happened or would have happened beyond that, I promise."

Celtic slapped a palm over his double crested forehead and growled in frustration and yet relief.

His shoulders sagged as he looked at Scar. "Please, don't let anything else happen. Chopper and I would willingly keep your secret if something did occur, but Yeyinde is unpredictable. I know he's been a father figure to you and us so far, but he is still a respected ancient, and he is expected to abide by our ideals. You nor I know if he would keep your actions with the _ooman_ a secret as well."

Scar let out a puff of breath as he realized why Celtic was so wound up.

"Thank you for worrying." He clicked his words sincerely at him. "But nothing happened nor will ever happen. We were just curious about each other's faces, that's all." Scar insisted. Celtic clapped him on the shoulder warmly and hustled him back out to go get the rest of his gear, and his loin cloth.

He completely forgot to ask Scar why he was naked in the first place.

* * *

Scar and Celtic were the first to enter the kitchen, joining the others.

Lex came in not far behind, and Celtic noticed that the two avoided eye contact. She immediately made her way over to Lucinda and Athena, who were stooped over a warmed up pot of water with some floating veggies in it. Lex approached the girls, who heard her footsteps and turned to look at her. Athena grinned at Lex. "Took you long enough." She joked. Lucinda rose an eyebrow at her. "You don't look like you had a relaxing bath."

Lex shook her head. "I didn't." She admitted. "And for the record, don't touch their dread locks." She told them.

Athena tilted her head at Lex. "Why?" She asked. Lex bit her bottom lip. "Because apparently they're really sensitive. . .like I'm touching his private parts sensitive." Athena stared at Lex in open shock and gaping mouth while Lucinda paled. "I accidentally touched Chopper's when I put the sling on him. That's why he was squirming so much!"

Unbeknownst to them, the yautja had picked up their conversation with their excellent hearing.

Yeyinde gave Scar and Chopper a hard stare. "Explain yourselves." He demanded. Scar hastily began to explain his side of the story and the explanation Lex had given him about _ooman_ hair. Chopper did the same thing once Scar was done, explaining how Lucinda was helping him get his sling on and her hands had brushed against his dreads in the process.

Yeyinde wanted to smack the two of them for being careless, but restrained himself. He turned to the three chittering ****lou-dte kales****.

"Scar has informed me of what happened." He said loudly so Lex and the others could hear. Lex blushed hard when he said this. "It wasn't his fault." She insisted. "I'm the one who over stepped the boundaries and touched him when I should have asked first." Yeyinde sighed and made a dismissive gesture. "It is forgiven. I should have made an effort to make the boundaries between you six known as well." He replied.

Lucinda stepped forward when he said this. "Is there anything else we should know about?" She asked.

Yeyinde had a thoughtful look on his face as he pondered that question. "There is definitely more to know." He confirmed. Athena reached over, grabbed a nearby chair, and flipped it around so she could sit on it while facing Yeyinde.

"We've got time."

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **ooman:**** human

- ** **cjit:**** sh**

- ** **awu'asa:**** armor

- ** **lou-dte kale:**** child bearer/ female

 _Aha! You thought the bath scene was over in the last chapter, well you were wrong! More sexy time for you all (but not much, because I enjoy cock-blocking the characters too much)._

 _Anyways, for those of you still reading this, I am actually excited. I just bought my first incubator and will be attempting to hatch some chicks. I am freaking excited!_

 _That had nothing to do with the story, just thought I'd share my excitement with you. See you in the next chapter!_


	28. They Have a Mating Season

Lucinda took her turn in the bath while Lex and Athena worked on dinner with the others.

Yeyinde had sat down with them and explained a bit of their culture to the girls. It was lengthy, and Lucinda wasn't sure she would remember all of it. When he was done, Lex took the liberty of explaining some of theirs as well. Lucinda was drowsy through all of it, and desperately wanted a bath to wake herself up.

' _I shouldn't be this tired. I'm the one in the group that took a nap!_ ' She thought to herself.

When she finally got to the bathroom, she didn't bother staying long. The water was cooling rapidly and the water heater that Lex had used was nearly out of water and logs. Lucinda didn't feel like going out and shoveling more snow for it. She was already wet and that would have been suicidal on her part to do so.

Luckily, Lex found some decent towels and had placed them out for the others to use.

Lucinda wrapped herself in several and made her way over to the room she had taken a nap in. She had unintentionally claimed that room as her own, temporarily. When she walked inside, she found Chopper already there, seemingly waiting for her.

"Eeek!" She squealed and accidentally dropped her clothes everywhere. Her towels stayed on, thankfully.

Chopper turned and cocked his head at her curiously, noticing the cloth pieces she had dropped. Lucinda burned red and bent over to pick those pieces up. While bent over, Chopper's eyes accidentally strayed to her protruding bottom. ' _How could I have thought she was a pup?_ ' He thought to himself as he got down to help her pick up her clothes. ' _She's small, but she's got the physical traits of a matured_ _ **lou-dte kale**_ _. . .she might even already have pups of her own, now that I think about it._ ' The thought of Lucinda having pups made Chopper uncomfortable, so he busied himself with picking up her clothing with her instead.

When he came across a piece of cloth that was smooth, V-shaped and had thin strings attached to the corners, Lucinda squeaked and snatched it out of his hands.

Chopper took notice of her blush as she stuffed that piece under her pile, and cocked his head at her curiously. Lucinda's blush increased as his attention remained on her. "That, um. . .that was an undergarment." She vaguely said. ". . .under. . .garment?" Chopper asked. His mask's interpretation of an under garment was their mesh netting, but he couldn't imagine how that piece could possibly keep her warm like his netting did.

Lucinda nodded. "Clothes you where under other clothes. They're meant to. . .kind of protect your private parts." She explained.

Chopper thought he understood what she meant, and held up his loincloth for emphasis. Lucinda saw what he was doing, and quickly covered her eyes as he ended up revealing more than she wanted to see. "Yes! That!" She squeaked. Chopper cocked his head at her weird behavior, but dropped his loincloth and continued picking up her clothing. ' _Why does she have so much to wear?!_ ' He internally griped.

When he was done, he looked up to find Lucinda trying to hang a blanket from the bed post to the desk like a lopsided curtain.

He went over and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned to look at him, he held out her bundle of clothes and she took them from him. "Thank you!" She said, and dove behind the curtain, out of his sight. Chopper trilled an exasperated and confused sound at her actions. Why was she trying so hard to hide from him? Had he done something wrong?

Chopper ducked under the curtain and found Lucinda's back turned to him as she was trying to get that v-shaped cloth on. She pulled at the strings up her legs, and they secured tightly around her hips as she bent to grab the cloth that Chopper saw hug her legs earlier.

Chopper made a curious clacking sound at her, and Lucinda shrieked and fell forward on her face with her pants halfway up her legs.

Her face burned red as she hastily tried to pull her pants up over her thong before rounding on him. "Were you watching that whole time?!" Chopper nodded like it was no big deal, and Lucinda glared at him. "I put the blanket up so I could have privacy!" She snapped at him. Chopper rose his hand and typed in his gauntlet. ". . .why?" He asked. Lucinda burned red in the face.

"Why?! What do you mean, why?! I'm naked! That's why!" She nearly yelled.

Chopper gave her a bewildered look, though she couldn't see it with his mask on. He typed again into the gauntlet. ". . .why. . .does . . .it. . .matter? . ." He asked. Lucinda stared at him, but then felt her shoulder's slump as her mind came up with a reason for his actions. "Your kind don't care if you see each other naked, do they?" She asked.

Chopper nodded once and typed again. "Planet. . .hot. . .clothes. . .get. . .in. . .the. . .way. . .no one. . .cares. . .what. . .your. . .body. . .looks. . .like. . .there. . ." He sounded out. "We. . .keep. . .our. . .eyes. . .facing. . .up. . .unless. . .mating. . .season."

Lucinda rose an eyebrow at him. "Mating season? You have a mating season?"

Chopper nodded again. "Mating. . .season. . .happens. . .for. . .half. . .of one. . .of our. . .years. . .only then. . .are we. . .in the. . .mood. . .to. . .lust. . .after. . .another's. . .body." Lucinda bit her lip at him. "So it isn't mating season for you right now?" She asked. " ** **M-di**** , . .it is. . .not." Chopper confirmed. Though he neglected to mention that it would be starting soon for them. All ****chivas**** were held right before mating season. This was so that when they come back to their home planet, they could immediately start impressing _lou-dte kales_ before the other, already experienced males did.

Lucinda tapped her foot on the floor. "So. . .when it's not mating season, you don't have any sexual desires or urges?" she asked curiously.

" ** **M-di.**** " Chopper said, which Lucinda took to mean 'no'. "The. . .females. . .secrete. . .a musk. . .that let. . .our bodies. . .know. . .they are . .ready to. . .mate. . ." He explained. "Oh!" Lucinda exclaimed. "It's a pheromone for you?" " ** **Sei-i**** , it is." Chopper confirmed, though he had no idea what a pheromone was. He just hoped it was the same thing he was explaining to her already.

Lucinda gave a sigh of relief. She was glad she didn't have to worry about him looking at her exposed body.

"Thanks for explaining." She said. "Humans don't have a mating season." She stated. "Our urges just kind of happen at random." Chopper tilted his head at her curiously. ' _If they don't have a mating season, then how will they know if their partner is in the mood at the same time as them in order to mate?_ ' He thought. Before he could voice his question, Lucinda stretched her arms. "Now excuse me for a moment. I've got to get my clothes on." She said, and bent to the rest of her pile on the floor. She had to fiddle with her bra, annoyed that she couldn't reach all the way around her back to hook up the clasp.

When she felt Chopper's hands push hers aside and take over the task, she burned red again before having to remind herself that with him this was ok.

"Thank you." She uttered, turning around to face him. Chopper made a pattern of clicking sounds at her, which Lucinda assumed was his people's way of saying 'you're welcome'. He then grabbed her shirt and fumbled with it a bit before stretching it over her head. Lucinda giggled from inside and shimmied into the shirt as he pulled it over her arms and down her waist.

Chopper looked at his work and gave a trill of pride as Lucinda stood in her clothes.

Lucinda grinned at him before hearing Athena shout out that dinner was ready from the other end of the mess hall. She took Chopper's hand, which he stared open-mandibled at, and led him out of the room.

Both human and yautja's stomachs gave simultaneous growls of hunger.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **lou-dte kale:**** child bearer/ female

- ** **M-di:**** no

- ** **Sei-i:**** yes

 _Some Chopper and Lucinda fluff for you all. Enjoy!_

 _I get Chopper's and Celtic's names mixed up so much that I have to triple check to make sure I put the right one. Ugh!_


	29. The Plan and the Past

Dinner was eaten faster than anyone had expected.

The girls had made a light meat and veggie soup for themselves, giving the majority of the meat to the humanoids. Athena had admitted that although the captain of the ship had said the storm would blow over tomorrow, there was no guarantee in that prediction. So they rationed out their food and tried to save as much as possible.

There wasn't much.

Lex was going through their remaining gear when dinner was over. She announced to the group that they had three tents still, each having survived with the girls and their ordeals. Athena examined the size of each one and pondered their sleeping situation. While Lex and Athena brought tents large enough for multiple persons to sleep in, Lucinda only brought a small one that could maybe fit two people in it.

"How about this?" Lucinda suggested. "Yeyinde can have my tent for himself. Scar, Chopper and Celtic can share one of the big ones while Lex, Athena and I take the other."

The four yautja cocked their heads at her suggestion. "We've never slept in. . .tents before." Yeyinde pointed out. "It'll help keep the cold out." Lex replied. "They're designed for snowy regions like this." The four still didn't look quite willing to try, so Athena made an offer. "We can show you how to use them, and you can decide if you want to or not."

Yeyinde and the others clicked and clacked amongst themselves before finally agreeing with Athena's offer.

* * *

After the girls had set the tents up inside the mess hall and showed the humanoids how to use them, the four males instantly agreed to sleep in them. Their initial distrust of these tents now gone once they saw their full use.

Lex, Lucinda and Athena rolled out their sleeping bags in their own tent and chattered for a while.

"Guys." Athena started out. "We're going to have to come up with a cover story for why we were the only ones who survived this trip." The tent went dead silent as the horrid reminder and grim reality settled on them once again. Lucinda clutched at the edges of her sleeping roll, trying hard not to cry. Lex was frowning and trying not to think of what had happened either.

Athena tapped her foot on the ground, trying not to think of what had happened either as well, but failing hard.

"What if. . ." Lucinda started out, lower lip trembling. "What if we said that the drilling machine exploded? And us three were out of range when it happened?" Lex and Athena pondered this idea for a while before deciding. Lex nodded her head in agreement, but Athena shook hers. "We'll need more details, at least on my part. I was Mr. Weyland's medic and body guard. They'll wonder how I could have survived that but he didn't."

Lucinda frowned, but Lex was the one that spoke. "Mr. Weyland was already dying. . .he could have died before the explosion. . .oh, what am I saying? He ****did**** die before the explosion!"

Lucinda added on to Lex's idea once she was finished. "We could say that Lex and I went to comfort you while you grieved his death, hence why we were away from the group at the time of the explosion." Lex nodded at this plan, and both looked to see Athena's reaction.

To their shock, Athena's eyes were moist from unshed tears and her lower lip was trembling hard in an effort not to cry.

She didn't like using Mr. Weyland as her cover story one bit. The man had ended up becoming a sort of father figure for her when he took pity and gave her the job as his medic and body guard. He had pride and sometimes entitlement issues, but he definitely did not disserve this treatment of his name.

But what choice did they have? It was either this or tell the truth. The later was not an option for obvious reasons.

Lucinda shot forward and wrapped her arms around Athena as Lex slowly stood up and did the same as well. "It looks like the part of us comforting you isn't going to be far from the truth." Lex softly said as Athena buried her head in her shoulder and sniffed. Her body quaked with silent sobs and both girls held her tight as she let her quiet tears out.

They don't know how long they stayed like that, but when Athena pulled back, they didn't care how long she needed to take to mourn. They knew she needed to get it out.

Athena sniffed and rubbed her wet cheeks with her hands before saying anything. "Thank you." She quietly muttered to the both of them. Lucinda rubbed her back and Athena took a deep breath before trying to shake off her emotional pain. "I'll go with the plan." She quietly said to them. "Now let's talk about something else. I don't want to dwell on it."

Lex and Lucinda were in a stump for several seconds on what to change the topic to when Lex blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"Any fun dating stories?" She asked. This got Athena to weakly chuckle and shake her head in a 'no' while Lucinda did a shrug and an unsure face. Lex sighed. "Ok, how about . . .who's no longer a virgin?" She asked. Lex raised her own hand and Lucinda did as well, but Athena's hands remained at her side.

Lex and Lucinda stared at her, genuinely shocked. "You're a virgin?" Lex asked.

Athena's mood slowly came back around and she gave a more hearty laugh at their expressions. "Yep." she simply said. "How?!" Lucinda gasped. Athena rose an eyebrow at her and Lucinda quickly rose her hands in front of her. "I didn't mean that to be rude! I just. . .you seem like the type that guys would kind of be lining up to bang." She admitted.

Athena sighed and sat up straighter, letting her hands fall in her lap.

"Thank you for the compliment." She began. "But most guys don't exactly like me romantically." She leaned back in her bag and held up three fingers to them. "Their first complaint is that I'm too tall. I'm 7 feet, 6 inches, and most guys I've met want a girl that's significantly shorter than them. Number two, I'm too masculine, apparently. . ."

Both Lex and Lucinda made a point of gesturing to Athena's humungous chest, which caused the girl to let out a laugh.

"I know what you're thinking. But apparently big boobs are a turn off when there's a six pack underneath them. I've been told I've got the body of a man before." Lex and Lucinda gapped at her. "That's so messed up!" Lex exclaimed. Athena nodded at her, but shrugged. "It happens, I guess." She shook her head and held up her last finger. "And this last one is my favorite one. It's only happened a couple of times, but some guys have a problem with my skin." She said. Lex rose an eyebrow at her. "Your skin?"

Athena nodded. "Apparently having two natural skin colors at once makes me too freakish to date." She shrugged like it was no big deal, but Lucinda watched her eyes and saw the small blip of hurt that crossed them when she mentioned this.

Athena sat back in her sleeping bag and gestured to them. "Alright, I spilled my dating life. Time for yours. How's the fun sex life going?" She asked with a mischievous grin.

Lex rolled her eyes and laughed at her, but Lucinda kind of slumped in her bed, which caught the other girls' attentions. Lucinda noticed this and decided that it was her turn. "I, uhh. . .didn't really have a good sex experience. . ." She admitted. Athena stared at her in horror and rising anger. She spoke quietly and gently. "Lucinda. . .were you ra-" "No!" Lucinda quickly interjected before she could finish. Athena and Lex frowned at her in confusion, so Lucinda continued.

"I. . .I had grown extremely close with the guy I was dating at the time. . .and we decided to take it to the next level." She paused and took a deep breath. "The next day, he broke up with me and told me that the entire time we were. . .doing it, he felt like a pedophile every time he looked at me." Lucinda stared at the ground as she spoke. "I'm apparently too short, hence why I'm annoyed when people call me a child. I haven't dated anyone since. . ."

Lex and Athena were openly staring at her in horrified shock.

"Who is this guy?! I want to fight him!" Athena exclaimed, clenching her firsts. Lex nodded in agreement, having similar feelings. Lucinda shook her head and shrugged at them. "It's alright, really. It was a long time ago." Athena nearly yelled out her reply. "Bullsh-" "Shush!" Lex hissed. "The others might be sleeping." She whispered. "Sorry." Athena whispered back sheepishly.

Lucinda shook her head at them and then gestured to Lex. "Your turn." She replied with a small grin.

Lex sighed and sit back. "Well. . .I've had boyfriends in the past, and yes, have had sex with a few of them. . .but here's something I learned about them." She sat up straighter before continuing. "Apparently they like girls who are confident, but not too confident. . .I am apparently too confident."

Now Lucinda and Athena stared at her in bewilderment as Lex gave a shrug as well, trying to act nonchalant about it all.

"Boys suck!" Athena hissed. Lucinda playfully smacked her thigh. "Not all boys!" She insisted. "Some are just really. . .terrible." Athena rolled her eyes. "Fine. Boys suck, ****men**** rock." She amended. "The bed." Lex added with an impish grin.

This threw the girls into a fit of giggles that lasted for seemingly hours before they finally went to sleep.

* * *

 _Author's note: Sorry if this seemed boring because it didn't have the boys in it that much, but I like giving some more depth to my characters and I felt this chapter would be appropriate for it. Also, I needed to have them discuss their cover story. Sorry if it felt like a filler chapter for you._

 _To the others that enjoyed it, share your own dating experiences in the comments. Did you have some similar to these girls, or hopefully better ones?_


	30. The Lies We Tell

Athena was waiting for the radio signal from the Piper Maru early in the morning.

The group had packed up and struck their tents as soon as they woke up. For some reason, there was an awkward tension amongst them. The girls passed it off as just some anxiety for the upcoming task of sneaking four humanoids onto a ship and getting them to safety. The yautja felt awkward because they heard the girls' ****entire**** conversation the night before. They hadn't told the ****ooman lou-dte kales**** about their excellent hearing, and felt it was partially their fault that their private conversation was known to them now.

Though they'd never admit it, Scar and Chopper were the most disturbed by the conversation over all.

Once the packing was done and a quick breakfast was served, the call for them to start making their way to the Piper Maru finally came in. Athena told captain Leighton that they'd be there as soon as possible. He responded that their rooms would be ready for them when they got there.

"We'll be leaving as soon as you board." He replied. "No one is appreciating the cold."

"We aren't either." Athena replied back with a chuckle. "We'll be there as soon as possible." "Make haste Miss Goodwill." Captain Leighton said. "We have. . .some unexpected visitors who want to talk to you." Athena frowned. "Who?" She asked. There was a pause before Leighton answered. "I'm afraid I can't reveal that until you board."

Athena had a bad feeling she already knew who it was.

They quit talking and the group was finally on their way. Lex and Scar took the lead, as Lex was still their ice terrain navigator. Celtic silently bristled about this fact in the back, as he was the one who usually led the group forward. Athena walked with Yeyinde, partially because she sensed his old age and the stiffer movements of his joints gave away that he was as well on in his years as she thought. Lucinda walked with Chopper, and most of the group noticed how he almost hovered over Lucinda like some protective mother hen.

It was two hours of hard trekking before the Piper Maru came into view.

* * *

Scar was the first to board the ship.

The crew had spotted them coming and had lowered a ladder down for their arrival. The four yautja had cloaked themselves long before the _oomans_ could spot them. They crawled up in front of the girls first just to make sure the crew didn't immediately begin pulling the ladder up once they saw that the three _lou-dte kales_ were on the ship already.

The crew that were watching didn't notice the weird wavy outline of their cloaks, thankfully.

Athena was the next one up, first out of the human group. Lex had stepped back and decided to go last to make sure the other two were on safely. This gave Athena enough time to spot the captain coming towards her.

While the crew cheered for their safe arrival, captain Leighton welcomed Athena with a warm hug. He gave Lucinda and Lex hugs too once they made it safely on deck. Leighton clapped Athena on the back once the hugging was over.

"We're going to set sail immediately." He told them. "In the mean time, it's been requested that you three head to your quarters for baths and a meal first before any talking is done."

He left them soon after that and the girls made no complaints about his request. The three girls and the four cloaked yautja all made their way to the women's quarters while the crew scattered about to get the rest of their tasks done.

They were in the hallway to their rooms when they stopped and faced each other.

"So I'm guessing we've got to let these guys bunk with us?" Lucinda whispered. Lex nodded, while Athena looked a little uncomfortable with that prospect. "I guess we'll have to." She replied reluctantly. "There's not exactly other places on the ship they can safely hide." Lucinda nodded at her and Lex tapped her foot. "I can fit only one more in mine." She said. "Same here." Lucinda replied. Both looked at Athena, who tried to hold in her sigh. "Yeyinde and Celtic can both bunk with me." She said.

The group agreed to these conditions and departed quickly. They planned to meet back up at lunch time.

* * *

The girls showed the yautja their dorms that they had slept in before arriving in Antarctica.

Athena had the luxury of a bed and a reclining chair in her room. She offered the bed to Yeyinde to sleep in and the chair to Celtic. Both accepted her offer for sleeping arrangements, and she left to take a shower before either could question where she would sleep.

Lex and Lucinda both came to the same conclusion of sharing their beds with the humanoids. This time it was the boys who were a bit hesitant on this. Normally, sharing beds was only done between mates and sometimes pups. Yet once they saw that the _lou-dte kales_ were not going to let them sleep anywhere else, they caved.

The girls took their showers first and left to go grab some lunch, leaving the boys to take their own showers and promising to bring food back for them once they had made an appearance.

* * *

Athena softly stepped into Leighton's office/ bedroom after she had shared a meal with the girls and had snuck food back to Celtic and Yeyinde.

"You needed to talk to me." She quietly said to him.

Leighton looked up from his antique desk and waved her in. "Yes. . .sadly, this is going to be a more unpleasant talk than normal." "I figured." Athena replied and took a seat at his desk. Leighton sighed and set his captain's hat and pen down. He stapled his fingers together before looking at her. "So. . .what happened out there?" He softly asked.

Athena bit her lip and told him the preplanned story she and the girls made up before hand.

When she got to the part about Weyland's death and how she had gone off to mourn, more tears filled her eyes. Leighton offered her a tissue and she wiped at her eyes and nose before continuing.

"Lex and Luci came over to try and comfort me. . .and that's when Quinn's drill just. . .malfunctioned and blew up on us. The rest of the team were all nearby when it happened, and were all. . .blown to bits." Athena looked down at the ground and sniffed. Captain Leighton assumed that this was just hard for her to relive, while Athena was looking away in the hopes that he wouldn't catch her lie.

"Lex, Lucinda and I were out of range, but we spent hours trying to find any possible survivors before contacting you." She finished.

Leighton cleared his throat before sinking back into his chair with a heavy sigh. "Athena. . .I'm sorry this happened to you. . .all of you." He said with sincerity. Athena sniffed and nodded at him, showing that she heard. Leighton bit the insides of his cheeks as now he had to deliver his own bad news.

"Athena." He softly said her name. She looked up at him and he swallowed before going on. "It's just that-" "It's just that I don't believe you." A voice cut in.

Athena whirled around to find the source of the dreaded, loathsome and familiar voice.

A man stepped forward from the shadows and glared at her. He was around Athena's age, maybe slightly younger. He stood with arms crossed and a regal pose that didn't scream authority, but major entitlement issues.

Athena frowned at the newcomer's presence. "Paul." She stiffly said.

Paul Weyland, son of Charles Weyland, pretended to dust some non-existent dirt off of his shoulder as she said his name. He stepped forward and glared at her. "Athena." He said her name in taut politeness. Athena frowned at him and he glared at her, letting the tension rise to choking levels.

Captain Leighton cleared his throat. "Why don't I have the crew bring some food in so we can sit and discuss this in depth?" He offered. "I already ate." Athena said sourly. Leighton brushed her attitude off. "A light snack then."

The three waited in awkward silence for their soon to be awkward meal.

* * *

 _Author's note: translation time!_

- ** **ooman:**** human

- ** **lou-dte kale**** : child bearer/ female

 _And you thought they were out of trouble! Ha!_

 _And Miss Maria, I would answer your questions more, but it's hard to do when you don't have an account. Sadly isn't a free-range commenting system._


	31. A Dangerous Game

The ship had set sail already when Scar and Chopper made their way to where Celtic and Yeyinde were lodging.

Lex and Lucinda were still at lunch and hadn't brought them back a meal. When they saw Yeyinde and Celtic with food already, they made noises of protest. "Why haven't they come back yet?" Chopper complained as his stomach made growls of obvious hunger. Scar kept his thoughts to himself, but his stomach betrayed him as well.

Yeyinde gave them an unamused glance as he clacked a response at them.

"I'm sure they'll be back any moment. In the mean time, make yourselves useful and inspect the vessel. Should things go wrong, we need to know our escape routes." He commanded, setting his meal aside so he could focus on them. Scar nodded obediently while Chopper's calves began to twitch. Whenever he was about to go off and cause mischief, this was the first warning sign. Scar and Celtic knew this fact about him, but Yeyinde didn't. Though he knew of Chopper's mayhem streak, he did not get to know him well enough to recognize this sign.

While Scar and Celtic did see Chopper's twitching calves, Yeyinde dismissed them. "Go. And stay out of sight!" He ordered.

Chopper was the first to escape out the door while Celtic and Scar shared a look before Scar ran after him. Yeyinde settled back into his spot on the bed and got back to eating his meat, all while not noticing Celtic quickly scarf down the rest of his own food without biting into it.

Celtic excused himself and quickly ran after his ****Chiva**** ****mei'hsweis**** as well.

* * *

Athena stared down Paul as he refused to take a seat with them.

Paul always refused to sit with others unless it was with those who held the same status or higher than him. With Athena being a medic and Leighton being a ship captain, he felt no need to act like he was their equal. While the meal was being brought, he still refused to do this.

He gave Athena a glare back when the food servers finally left.

"I don't believe you." He repeated to her. Athena scowled at him and he strode forward to stand above her while she was seated. Sadly, with her long torso, he wasn't much taller than her even while she was sitting. His normal attempts at intimidation that he used on others usually didn't work on her.

Athena bit the insides of her cheeks as she looked at him. He continued on.

"Your story is too perfect for a cover up. The drill conveniently blowing up and wiping everyone out but you?" He scuffed. Athena scowled at him. "Me, Lex, and Lucinda." She corrected. "They survived too." She folded her arms and glared up at him.

Paul whipped around and stared Leighton down. "And we didn't stay to investigate this claim why?" He demanded with an accusatory tone.

Leighton frowned at him. "Because we do not have the supplies to continue docking the ship here for much longer, all while making the trip back. Plus the crew that would willingly go on the ice have already gone on the ice, and look what happened to them! I understand that your father's body is out there, but none of my men on board are willing to risk their lives just to find him."

Athena had to bite her tongue from saying that she would have gone out to look for him. She would have willingly gone and searched if the situation didn't have more desperate needs right now.

Paul really wanted to fire Leighton at that moment, but decided that firing the captain of the ship while they were in the middle of nowhere was not in his favor. He instead turned his ire back on Athena. "You're not telling us everything!" He accused. Athena glared at him. "What else do you want me to say?! Do you want me to tell you every damn gruesome detail that led to their deaths?! Maybe magically produce a video recording of it for you!" She shouted. Paul's lips twitched in a snarl and he had to restrain himself from yelling.

"If that's what it takes." He said darkly.

The room grew quiet for several seconds before Athena rose to her feet. "You heartless little boy!" She hissed. Paul was about to retort when she cut him off. "I quit! As soon as we land back in America, I'm taking my last paycheck for this trip and never looking back. I'll watch as this company falls under your hands, as you're more than likely to screw it all up as you usually do!" She bit out with complete loathsomeness.

This was not normal for Athena, but then again, Paul had always managed to bring out the ugliest sides of her.

Paul tried not to let her implications of his possible failure sting, and tried to subdue the wild lioness. "Watch yourself Athena. Maxwell and my father aren't here to protect you anymore." He threatened. He didn't predict Athena shooting up and grabbing him by the shirt. She hauled him to his feet and pinned him to the wall behind his would-be chair. Leighton shot up to try and restrain her, but one warning look from Athena told him that it was best not to interfere.

"Listen here you slimy, immature, jealous, manipulative little twerp!" She shouted.

Paul had gone pale and started to legitimately fear for his safety when Athena continued on. "I never needed your father's or Maxwell's protection. You have never been a threat to me and I never needed them to guard my back from the likes of you." She shoved her face closer to his to get the point across. "If anything, they protected ****you**** from ****me****. I was your father's bodyguard for a reason, and I have no qualms with showing you why!"

She dumped him unceremoniously on the ground after that and whipped back around to her chair.

Paul refused to have the last word, even if he was slumped on the floor. "But I'm a threat to you now. . ." He quietly said, no lie hidden in his tone. Athena turned and rose an unfazed eyebrow at him as he rose to his feet. He straightened his tie and glared her down. "This company is mine now." He continued. "And I have the power, money, and resources to throw you in jail and have you tried for murdering my father."

Athena openly gapped at him, and Paul smirked at this.

"When we get to land again, I'll be having you and your friends put through a thorough questioning. I'll not let you rest until the real story comes forward and you finally say what really happened." He turned and faced her with a full stance and a look that practically declared war.

"Mark my words Athena Goodwill, you will never be rid of me so long as I live. I will have you spill your secrets one way or another, even if it means dragging you through hell and back!"

A moment of stillness permeated the tension in the room and no one dared to move.

Finally, Athena had had enough. She got up without another word, turned, and left the room. As the door fell shut behind her, Paul scowled and growled foul curses at her under his breath before letting himself out as well, going to his own quarters that were once his father's.

Underneath the antique desk, captain Leighton pressed the stop button on his hand held audio recorder and stashed it away in a secure safe.

* * *

Outside the room, Chopper remained cloaked as the ****ooman**** named Paul left the room as well.

He hadn't heard the entire conversation by the time he got there, but he had heard enough. His translator was having a hard time keeping up with their speech, and some of it couldn't even be translated due to cultural or societal differences in language.

Either way, he got the distinct impression that Athena was in trouble and Celtic needed to know about this. But first he had to raid the kitchen, he was starving!

Chopper dashed off just as Scar rounded the corner and saw the heat signature of his friend barely leave the hall.

* * *

Yeyinde had just heard the oncoming _ooman_ footsteps approach in time for him to cloak himself.

He got off the bed and huddled in the darker corner of the room when the door opened and someone who wasn't Athena barged in. From the ****h'dui'se**** of him, he was a male. An adult one too.

The _ooman_ looked about the room before dashing to Athena's bed and grabbed the bed post. He twisted the knob off of the post and set it to the side before pulling something small out of his pocket. He placed this object inside of the knob before screwing it back on to the bed post and then made a mad dash for the door.

Yeyinde watched him leave and waited several seconds before going to retrieve the planted object.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **Chiva:**** trial

- ** **mei'hswei:**** brother

- ** **ooman:**** human

- ** **h'dui'se:**** scent/ musk/ odor

 _Question for those of you who have been on a lot longer than I have. Did something happen back in 2009, maybe 2010-ish? It seems like several of my favorite fanfictions stop there and I was wondering if did something that made a lot of people quit the site._

 _Welp, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! More to come, hopefully soon._


	32. Deadly Confrontations

Paul sat in his room with the lights dimmed and a pair of headphones on.

He fiddled with the recording device in his lap with a scowl as he tried to get it to work. The thing was having a connection problem with the bug he had placed in Athena's room. Something was interfering. ' _Maybe it's whatever her bed was made of._ ' He pondered as he remembered that he had slipped the wire into one of the bed knobs. He wasn't the most technological savvy person in the world to know if that was the case.

When it finally connected properly, he could hear Athena's approaching voice.

"Let's talk." She said, and the sound of a closing door could be heard. ' _So there are others with her._ ' Paul concluded. More footsteps could be heard shuffling about before a groan from Athena came through. "Where are Yeyinde and Celtic?" She asked with annoyance. This piqued Paul's interest and he listened closely. He hadn't seen anyone on the crew registry with those names. Then again, he hadn't looked closely at them in the first place.

"Right there." Came a second female voice.

Paul heard the sound of a large body shuffling, but no voice to the body came through. A sigh from Athena was next. "Yeyinde is here, but Celtic isn't." She said. The second female voice piped up again. "Yeyinde, do you know where he is?" She asked.

The voice that came next was inhumanely deep and had more growl in it than words.

"I sent the other three to explore this vessel. Scar and Chopper were complaining of their hunger." Paul heard some odd clicks and clacks that followed immediately after that. The sound of flesh smacking flesh rang out, and Paul assumed Athena had either smacked someone or herself. "Please tell me those three will keep out of trouble?" She begged someone, possible this person named Yeyinde.

"That is why I sent Scar and Celtic with Chopper. Out of the three, Chopper is my biggest concern." That same unimaginably deep voice replied, whom Paul associated with this Yeyinde person.

"Why would Chopper be a problem?" A third female voice questioned. Paul was getting irritated that he couldn't put a name to the other two females. A hard and harsh clack like crab pincers smacking together rang in Paul's ears. "Chopper likes to cause the most trouble." Yeyinde replied. "But he seemed so mature on the ice." The third female voice insisted. More clicking noises. "Do not be fooled by his actions while he was performing his ****Chiva****." He warned. "Out of the three, he has the worst habit for. . .mischief. I only trust Celtic to keep him out of trouble because Scar is easily influenced with Chopper's bad behavior as well."

' _So there's more survivors than Athena and the other two girls!_ ' Paul thought triumphantly. ' _But how did they get on board?_ '

"Should we go find them?" Came the second female's voice. "No need." Yeyinde replied. "They're making their way back now." A creak from the bed told Paul that someone had sat down. "I do, whoever, need to show you three something." Another creak from the bed and a few quiet clicks came next.

"Another human came in here earlier." Yeyinde announced.

"What?!" Athena shouted. Paul's heartbeat immediately picked up and he had to stop himself from throwing the recorder away from him on instinct. ' _This Yeyinde person saw me?!_ ' He mentally panicked. "What did they do in here?" Athena demanded. The sound of rustling and movement permeated the headphones before Yeyinde replied. "He placed this in your bed."

Paul knew right then and there that Yeyinde was holding up his bugged wire.

Athena shouted out loud in a booming voice. " ** **PAUL!**** " The door was slammed open and then shut soon after, which alerted Paul to her rampage. Paul made a mad dash to hide the evidence of his spying on her, starting with stashing the recorder in a safe place. Then he tried to hide any important paperwork and equipment that could reveal what he was really here for. He didn't have much time. The women's corridors were not far from the men's.

A couple of seconds after stashing everything, a thunderous pounding on his door rattled the barrier in its frame.

Paul audible gulped and tried to wring his hands of the nerves he was feeling. He'd never admit it, but Athena both excited and terrified him. Her unique appearance had always intrigued him, but her height and muscular body always put him on edge. She somehow had the ability to be both beautiful and dangerous in his eyes.

And that fact scared him the most.

"PAAAAUUULLL!" Athena roared through the door. "Open up you twisted, stalking, son of a-" Before she could finish, Paul whipped the door open and tried to summon the look of cool disinterest. He tried to appear as if he was unamused and annoyed with her actions, though his heart was racing like mad.

"What do you want, Athe-" Now this time she interrupted him.

She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up so his head was actually level with hers for once. A small blip of fear broke through his façade and this satisfied Athena. She carried him inside the room and smashed his body against a wall. The look she was sending him nearly stopped his heart as he legitimately began to fear for his life.

"I should murder you." She said in the darkest voice possible before holding up the little familiar wire that he had bugged her room with.

The split second look of recognition that crossed his eyes was all Athena needed to stamp out any doubts that it was him who had placed it. She slammed her fist against the wall beside his head, wire dangling between her fingers. "Now I've got evidence against you for trespassing and invasion of privacy." She said in a low voice before letting go of his collar and watching him fall to the ground. She stood over him and he shrank beneath her imposing stature.

"If you ever try to pull something like this again, I will throw you over the edge of this ship myself! Do you understand?!" She shouted.

Paul vaguely nodded at her before she punched near his head again for good measure. He flinched away and she stomped out of the room. At the last second she turned around, held the wire up for him to see, and crushed the two ends in her hands before snapping the wire in two.

When she finally left, Paul wondered how he was alive.

* * *

When Athena returned to her room, all four of the humanoids were now there, including Lex and Lucinda.

Yeyinde was apparently in the middle of berating Chopper for something. Chopper looked guilty, but unrepentant. Scar was tucked away in a corner with Lex, who were both watching the whole ordeal quietly. Lucinda was watching the interactions between the ancient and Chopper with worry, while Celtic looked on like this was a normal occurrence.

Athena slammed the door shut behind her and this got everyone's attention.

"We were being recorded." she said darkly. Lex and Lucinda stared at her openly while the humanoids tilted their heads at her. "What do you mean?" Yeyinde asked. Athena held up the wire that he had retrieved earlier, only to find it crushed and snapped in two in her hands. "My room was bugged." She said. "Paul heard our entire conversation."

Lucinda looked like she was about to go into another panic attack, and the others all stared at the wire curiously.

"Who's Paul?" Lex asked. Athena took a seat by the bed and sighed in exhaustion. She just really wanted to sleep right now. "Paul is Mr. Weyland's son. . ." She finally said. Lex rose an eyebrow at her and Athena continued. "He has now inherited Weyland corporation and he also hates me. . .so now he hates all of you subsequently."

Lex frowned and Lucinda spoke up, though her voice was higher than normal. "Why does he hate you?" She asked.

Athena shrugged. "In the simplest terms, jealousy. He and his father never had a good relationship. . .so when he saw how his father took Maxwell and I under his wing, he got bitter at the both of us." Athena leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. "He doesn't believe the cover story we came up with. And if he heard the conversation we had before I left, I think we just gave him plenty of reason to support his belief. He wants to know the real story, and is going to work like hell to find it out."

The room became silent after that, no one knowing what to say.

Lex tapped her foot on the floor in thought. "Do you know what he plans to do?" She asked. Athena made a so-so motion with her hand. "He plans to immediately have police question us as soon as we land. If my guesses are right, then he also is going to try and corner you two and interrogate you personally as well."

Lucinda's breathing immediately began to pick up and Athena shot out of the chair and dashed to her side with Lex following behind.

While the girls attended to Lucinda, Yeyinde turned and gave a commanding stare to the three boys. "Now you have to stay undiscovered more than ever." He clacked at them. The three nodded, but Yeyinde gave Chopper and then Scar pointed looks. "That means no stealing from their supplies either."

The two yautja nodded, though Chopper was already coming up with plans to be extra sneaky in the future.

When the room had settled and Lucinda was calm again, Athena sighed and turned to the humanoids once more. "Come on." She said to them. "We've still got to get your injuries looked at." She stood up and Yeyinde motioned for the two injured yautja to follow him. Scar opted to stay behind with Lex and Lucinda, as he wasn't injured. He also didn't want to leave the two ****lou-dte kales**** on their own with this Paul ****ooman**** being a threat nearby.

Athena opened the door and let the four humanoids out once they had cloaked themselves. "We'll be back." She promised. "Just look for us in the medical wing if you need anything."

The door slammed shut with a soft click when it locked in place.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **Chiva:**** trial

- ** **lou-dte kale:**** child bearer/ female

- ** **ooman:**** human

 _Thank you all for reading! Leave a comment/review of the story if you want. Some of you might not know this, but writers love seeing comments from the readers more than anything. Whether their good or bad comments, it let's us know that you read the story and felt the desire to say something about it._

 _Thank you for your precious time!_


	33. Cute Sleepers

Athena managed to get Chopper and Celtic roughly bandaged up.

She found out through Yeyinde that her earthly medicine was nowhere near on par with theirs. He explained some of the technology that they had for wounds like what Celtic and Chopper had sustained, and she ended up feeling slightly embarrassed by the mediocre tech that she had available. When she explained the process to the humanoids on what would have to be done with her available tech, they almost outright denied any help and opted to just wait until they arrived back on their own ship for medical attention. Yeyinde ended up cuffing them on the backs of their heads for being ignorant and ordered them to let Athena treat them.

With hesitant grumbles from them, Athena managed the best she could to fix them under the circumstances. They would hold together fine, thankfully. All they had to do was ignore the pain and try not to jostle their bodies too much.

Now she was getting ready for bed when Yeyinde and Celtic walked back in to her room.

Both humanoids were going to lay down in the spots that Athena had offered them before, when they noticed that she was setting up a blanket and pillow on the floor. "You are resting there?" Yeyinde asked. "Yep." Athena replied as she laid down. Celtic noticed that she was wearing strange clothing once again, and questioned Yeyinde if she was sleeping in it. Yeyinde asked Athena that question in return. "Yep." She replied again. "They're called pajamas." She explained. ' _Though I guess a tank top and shorts don't really count as official pajamas._ ' She thought out in her head.

While Yeyinde new ****oomans**** loved their clothes, Celtic found it bizarre. His kind could barely tolerate their own loin cloths!

While Athena laid down under the blanket pile she had set up on the floor, Celtic decided he needed rest as well. He began to strip out of his ****awu'asa**** and then wire mesh. Athena heard him moving around and turned her head to look just as he was untying his loin cloth to take off for the night. She quickly whipped her head back around to look away, and then immediately shuddered when she heard him climb onto the lazy boy coach she had offered him earlier. ' _So. . .he sleeps in the nude._ ' She thought sarcastically.

She heard the same rustling of clothes coming over by her bed and realized Yeyinde must have been doing the same thing. ' _No wonder they were weirded out by me wearing clothes to bed._ ' She concluded.

No good nights were said as the group fell into sleep's grasp.

* * *

Chopper snuck into Lucinda's room as quietly as possible after his painful medical procedure on his arm was over.

To his surprise, the tiny _ooman_ ****lou-dte kale**** was already fast asleep. She was curled up on the bed with a pillow tucked between her head and arm. Chopper couldn't help but chuckle in soft clicks at the sight. She really was an adorable _ooman_ at times.

Though if he ever let her know that he thought that of her, he had a feeling he would end up like the ****kiande amedha**** she had faced earlier.

Trying not to wake her, he removed his own _awu'asa_ and loin cloth before climbing into the bed as softly as possible. The bed dipped under his added weight and he would freeze in place whenever it would creek, but she remained asleep the entire time. Slinking under the blanket, he found her curled body with his good hand and softly pulled her closer to him. He entwined his body around hers and tucked her head under his chin.

Closing his eyes, he fell asleep with his _ooman_ novelty safely tucked away in his arm.

* * *

Lucinda had left to go to bed a couple of hours after Athena and the three other humanoids had gone to get their wounds patched up.

Lex had immediately begun to prepare for bed after that. Scar had tilted his head and watched her curiously as she knelt down and reached under her bed to grab something. She came back out with box shape item that seemed to be made of material resembling leather. Opening this box up, she pulled out more fabrics and a couple other curious items before replacing the box back under the bed. She left for the bathroom and Scar waited patiently for her to return, contemplating on getting the box back out and searching through it to satisfy his curiosity.

When Lex came back, she looked at Scar as he stared at her onesie, which resembled the clothing she had worn earlier in the pyramid.

"Are you ready for bed?" She asked. Though her phrasing was strange for his translator to relay back to him, Scar assumed she meant sleep when she said bed. " ** **M-di.**** " He replied to her in a deep but unthreatening growl before standing up and beginning to remove his cumbersome gear. Lex made a yelping noise when she realized he was going commando again, and she quickly turned around to look away from him. Scar let out a huff of breath in a scuff at her bizarre behavior.

When she refused to turn around, even when he tried to get her attention with curious noises, he decided she just needed to get over his nakedness or they were never going to get anywhere.

Stalking over, he dove his hands down and swept her off her feet while she squawked in protest. "Put me down Scar!" She demanded frantically while trying to wiggle out of his hold. He just growled at her, and then began to laugh as the blood rushed to her face in a blush. Sitting on the bed, he laid down first before repositioning her still squirming body on top of his. He forcibly moved her head to rest on his chest while the rest of her was laid out over his own body.

He began to purr in the hopes that she would calm down. When that didn't work, he stroked her hair instead.

Lex suddenly froze when she felt his fingers glide through her hair and over her scalp. The familiar tingling sensation that came with hair being moved near the scalp came and sent shivers down her spine before the relaxing feeling took over and calmed her down. Scar trilled his approval at her improved behavior and Lex rolled her eyes. "Having fun?" She meant it sarcastically, but Scar gave a sound that obviously meant a yes to her question.

Lex shifted around to make herself comfortable (and to keep her legs from accidentally feeling the fleshy shaft of his manhood against the bottom of her thighs), Lex took a deep breath and nearly sunk into his chest in immediate sleep.

Scar stroked her sides and hips before pulling the blanket over the both of them, wrapping an arm around her and falling asleep as well.

* * *

Celtic woke up in the middle of the night to Athena shifting on the floor once again.

Athena was asleep, but her body still seemed to be trying to get comfortable on the floor anyway. It was irritating Celtic, not because of the noise she was making, but because she was clearly uncomfortable and hadn't done anything to try and make her sleeping arrangements better.

' _I would have readily shared this. . .sleeping spot if she had demanded I did in the first place._ ' Celtic thought stubbornly, not knowing what to even call the piece of furniture he slept on.

That's when he decided that he would do just that. He got up off of his sleeping spot and strode over to Athena before picking her up off of the floor. She didn't stir as he cradled her in his arms, but Yeyinde was thoroughly awakened. He squinted accusingly at Celtic in the darkness before growling. "What are you doing?"

"I am sharing my sleep spot with her." Celtic calmly answered. "She is uncomfortable on the floor even when she dreams. It was waking me up."

Yeyinde let out a sigh before rolling out of the bed. "If you intend to share with her, then take mine. It can fit you both." He offered. Scar dipped his head at the ancient. "Are you sure it would be wise for you to take my sleep spot? It's not the best option for your health-" "Do not worry about me." Yeyinde waved him off. "I'm well on in age, not frail and falling apart." Celtic still didn't like the idea, but he switched spots with Yeyinde nonetheless.

Celtic tucked Athena under the sheets and climbed in beside her before going back to sleep.

Yeyinde watched them both for a moment before laying down on the couch and returning to slumber.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **ooman:**** human

- ** **awu'asa:**** armor

- ** **lou-dte kale:**** child bearer/ female

- ** **kiande amedha:**** hard meat/ xenomorph

- ** **M-di:**** no

 _I'm sorry this is so late guys! I'm not going to lie, I had a crappy week and just needed a break from a few things. It's bad enough that I'm still kind of anxious for next week for whatever might happen._

 _Also for those of you reading this on fanfiction and not on Wattpad, I swear the chapters seem longer when I post them on Wattpad. 1000 words just doesn't take up a lot of room on this website, apparently. I promise I'm not intentionally making these chapters short._

 _Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you thought about it below._


	34. Disturbed Routines

Lex was the first to wake up.

For a moment, she forgot where she was and who she was with. Her groggy mind was feeding information to her slowly, and the first things it registered was that the supposed 'bed' underneath her was a little too hard for comfort. The second thing was that its texture wasn't silky smooth like normal sheets and blankets would feel. The surface was bumpy and almost subconsciously reminded Lex of snake skin.

Lex began to wake up faster and that's when she remember that she had fallen asleep on top of a very naked humanoid named Scar.

Her mind was suddenly awake, and that's how she came to realize that his kind apparently got morning wood like human males did.

Face burning red as she realized that her bottom was being poked, she slowly slid off of him and tried not to take the blankets with her. She did ****NOT**** want to see him in his full glory any more than she already had. Although it did mildly interest her that the anatomy between them and human males seemed to be nearly the same, she didn't feel like being the first person to break the unspoken "no interspecies relationship" rule. Hung or not, she didn't feel like bumping uglies with this male, much less accidentally feeling him pressed against her in their sleep.

Rolling off of the bed, Lex looked back to find Scar beginning to stir as well. Her sudden movements had awoken him regardless of how careful she had been.

The blankets fell off of his lap when he began to sit up, and Lex whirled around and pointedly looked away at that point. She heard Scar make curious clicks at her from behind once he had fully awoken, and she still refused to look at him. When she heard him getting up, she panicked on what to do. "I'm getting changed!" She suddenly announced and nearly ran to the bathroom.

Scar just watched her in bewilderment as Lex made a quick get-away.

* * *

Lucinda was woken up by the sound of loud and almost obnoxious purring directly in her ear. For several seconds she just blinked in shock as her mind brought her surroundings up to date. Unlike Lex, she usually woke up all at once and didn't take long to process her whereabouts or previous events.

She realized that her body was curled into a tight ball and that a large hulking body was curled around hers.

' _Chopper likes to cuddle apparently._ ' Lucinda thought once she concluded that the almost motherly humanoid was the one holding her like a teddy bear. Although a sweet gesture it was, she was feeling cramped beneath his body and having a mildly hard time breathing while curled up.

She tried to shift and break free of his hold, but then she found that his arms, although seemingly relaxed, actually held an almost iron grip around her.

She was stuck and having a hard time breathing under the humanoid, and this fact began to stir up her anxiety. She tried to gently wiggle free at first as her troubled breathing picked up speed. When this didn't work, her anxiety flat out told her to panic and flail beneath him. Her arms and legs flung around and smacked into his body, which woke him up.

Chopper suddenly let go of Lucinda and she shrieked as she fell out of the bed and onto the floor in a heap of tangled limbs.

Chopper sat up and looked down at her on the floor as she tried to stand. She hung on to the side of the bed and wobbled on dead legs as her calves were attacked by the familiar pins and needles feeling that came with suddenly moving limbs that had been motionless and bent for too long. She yelped as her knees gave out and she fell to the floor again with her legs still being too numb.

Chopper gave a trill as he reached over the edge of the bed and hoisted her up by her arm.

Lucinda's hand grabbed on to his hand that was currently grasping her bicep. Her breathing leveled out again as Chopper pulled her onto the bed and threw part of the blanket over her. His purring calmed her down as he wrapped an arm around her and laid back down again, taking Lucinda with him.

Lucinda couldn't help but weakly chuckle at his antics. He apparently still wanted to sleep.

"Still tired?" She asked, laying down next to him and stretching out her legs painfully straight. He clicked at her and she stared as his mandibles opened up wide and he stretched his mouth open as far as it could go without making a sound. ' _Is he yawning?_ ' Lucinda thought to herself. When he closed his mouth and mandibles, he vaguely nodded at her before tucking his head back into the pillow beneath him.

Lucinda gave another chuckle. "I have to go get breakfast. I'll bring you some too." She replied before sitting up again.

Chopper made a noise of protest as his comforting heat source left his side, but the thought of breakfast made his stomach growl enough to shut him up.

He watched as she left the room before going back to sleep.

* * *

Yeyinde was already awake by the time Athena started to stir.

He had been resting in the reclining chair when he saw her begin to move. His curiosity on how she would react to Celtic's actions from last night halted him from making any motion to greet her. He knew they were trying to fix the tension between them.

Would Celtic's actions help their attempts?

Athena blinked awake and the first thing she saw was Celtic's face across the bed facing hers. He was still asleep and she vaguely noticed how his mandibles twitched when he slept. She remembered how she had taken up position on the floor, and now for some reason she was in the bed instead. ' _How did I end up here with Celtic?_ ' She internally thought with some apprehension.

As if reading her thoughts, or possibly just seeing the sudden curious look on her face, Yeyinde answered.

"He decided to sacrifice his sleep spot for you. He didn't like you taking rest on the floor." Athena looked up at Yeyinde's sudden voice, then looked back at Celtic. "But he was sleeping where you are now. why are we both on the bed?" She looked back at Yeyinde to find him shifting around. "I made him take it. It's big enough to give you both room to sleep separately." He explained.

Athena looked at the space between herself and Celtic, and realized that he had indeed taken the edge of the bed away from her.

At first she thought he had done this because the thought of touching her while they slept was repulsive, but then she thought back to how he had promised he would earn her trust again. ' _Maybe he doesn't find my body repulsive, but is actually respecting me space. . ._ ' She decided to ask him when he woke up, but a gurgle from Yeyinde's stomach diverted her attention. She looked over at him to find him covering his belly with one arm.

Athena sighed and rolled herself out of bed and onto her feet. "I'll go get breakfast." She told him. "See you in a minute." Yeyinde cocked his head at her as she left the room and Celtic began to stir. ' _She must really want food if she can bring it back in under a minute._ ' He thought.

He soon found out, that that was not what she meant at all.

* * *

For the next four days, they developed a routine.

Lex, Lucinda and Athena would try to act normal throughout the day while the yautjas would tour the ship. The girls would get together and plan what to do after the ship landed. They would have to hide the humanoids longer after they left the ship. Add to the fact that they had Paul to deal with still, he seemed dead set on getting them all incarcerated once the ship landed. They also had to prepare for whenever he would strike next at one of them. Athena had warned that he would try to corner them for interrogation.

Apparently, he had chosen Lucinda as his first victim.

She was making her way to the bathroom when Paul rounded the corner and towered over her. Lucinda squeaked, having never seen him before, and tried to get past him. He moved to block her way with every attempt she made. When she grew frustrated, he finally spoke. "Are you Lucinda?" He asked with a false polite tone. Lucinda sucked in her lips and gave the tiniest nod before he smiled (more like leered) at her. "I am Paul Weyland. I would like to have some words with you." He explained. "It's about your adventure on the ice."

Lucinda severely hoped he couldn't pick up on the sudden thumping of her heart. "Ok. . .what time?" She asked, hoping to stall the confrontation.

"Now." Paul said plainly. "If you don't mind." His tone gave no room for her opinion on whether she minded or not. She nodded her head at him, and just hoped that he didn't notice her shaking. "Wonderful!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands together and turning around. "Right this way, please."

Lucinda reluctantly followed, and to her confusion, he led her past the dorms and closer to the kitchens. She cleared her throat before speaking. "Are we, umm. . .going to your office?" She asked. "Nope." Paul replied curtly, not giving her any more information on the matter. Lucinda was about to open her mouth and ask more when he suddenly stopped and opened a nearby utility closet door. "This will do fine." He said before grabbing her arm and practically throwing her in there.

"Hey!" Lucinda shouted in protest as he stepped in and closed the door behind himself with a click of the lock.

He turned on her. "Now then. Let's have a little interview, shall we?" Lucinda backed up and ended up tripping over a crate of supplies while Paul advanced on her. "What really happened out there on the ice?" He asked. Lucinda gapped at him. "What?" She kept backing up on her hands and knees away from him and he was growing impatient.

"What really happened?!" He snarled at her, taking much larger steps to stand over her.

Lucinda's mind momentarily drew a blank as she couldn't recall the entire lie she and the girls had decided to go with for this exact situation. She stammered as she replied to him. "I-I-I don't know what you mean!" She shouted. "Liar!" He shouted back, and slammed his fist on one of the supply shelves. The force knocked it over and several cleaning products landed on Lucinda, hitting hard enough to leave eventual bruises.

She cried out in pain and Paul leaned forward and grabbed her arm in a painful grip. "I can do this all day!" He hissed.

Lucinda's heart began to triple in speed and her mind grew frantic. She could only say one thing at that moment before her mind succumbed to a panic attack. "Help. . ." She said weakly, though she had meant for it to be a yell.

Suddenly the door caved in.

Chopper had heard her from the kitchen. He had been sneaking some extra meat from the storages. When he heard in clear detail what this Paul person was doing to his ****ooman**** , he unexpectedly flew into a rage like he had never felt before. His hearing practically over enhanced itself and he could hear the objects in the room falling and hitting flesh before Lucinda's cries of pain came immediately afterwards. He cloaked himself and flew down the hall. He just made it in time to hear her cry for help before busting down the door.

When he saw his Lucinda spasming on the floor and the male _ooman_ leaning over her, he jumped forward and slammed the male into the wall hard enough to break some of his ribs.

When the male slumped to the floor unconscious, Chopper picked up Lucinda in his arms and held her close. She was still spasming and her breathing was startlingly faster than normal. His own panic began to rise.

Giving a cry of terror for Lucinda, Chopper ran out of the room and went on his way to Athena's for medical assistance.

* * *

When Lucinda was finally brought out of her panic attack and calmed down several hours later, Lex and Chopper went to console the woman and Athena stepped outside and onto the deck.

She was bristling with rage and needed some place to yell or scream. Either one worked.

Paul had been found crawling out of the room by some of the ship's crew and was taken to the medic wing. When questioned about what happened, he refused to answer. Athena had heard about this and had wanted to go and finish the job that Chopper had started. The humanoid told Athena what had happened, at least, as much as he could from his perspective.

Athena went to the edge of the deck of the ship and gripped the railing hard enough that her knuckles turned white.

She took deep breaths for several minutes, trying to control her temper. She hated being like this. She hated being angry at people. She always ended up feeling exhausted and depressed afterwards, and more sad than mad. It was emotionally draining, which was something she hated feeling.

She nearly jumped a mile when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

She turned and saw no one there, but the weight of the hand was still clearly pressed against her limb. It took her a moment to realize what was going on. "Celtic?" She softly asked. She heard the sound of clicking before the hand she felt gently shook her shoulder in greeting. She sighed. "Do you need something?" She asked. If anyone walked by at that moment, it would look like she was talking to thin air.

More clicks and trills sounded before she gently felt the arm tug at her shoulder. "I'm coming." She quietly said before blindly following where he was leading her.

Celtic had taken to holding her wrist instead of her shoulder while he guided her along. He thought it more practical than trying to guide her by the shoulder. His scavenging the ship helped him find private spots that he could talk to Athena peacefully in. He knew about the cameras the _oomans_ set up for security, and also knew all of the spots the cameras never looked.

Celtic found an empty room with no current occupants. He heard some of the _oomans_ call it a common room before.

He led Athena inside and she softly closed the door behind them. He finally uncloaked and trilled at her curiously. Athena cocked her head at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well? . . .What did you want to talk about?" She asked, taking a seat on one of the sofas.

Celtic took a seat as well and held the mask out to her and Athena gave a tired sigh as she took it from him. ' _This game again._ ' She thought with slight sarcasm.

She slipped it on and Celtic immediately started clicking. "Why does that . . .Pall _ooman_ hate you so much?" He asked, not knowing how to pronounce the name correctly. Athena bit her lip and handed the mask back. "It's a long story. He was and still is jealous of the relationship I had with his dad. I was more his daughter than Paul ever was his son. Now he wants to claim that I murdered his father while we were out on the ice." She explained once Celtic had the mask back on.

Celtic stared at her in open shock before handing the mask back. "But you didn't murder him!" He insisted to Athena with rapid clicks. Athena shrugged. "Doesn't matter. He has the money and influence to convince the public and the courts that I'm the one who did it." Celtic took the mask back when Athena offered it. "Courts?" He trilled his question. Athena nodded. "The people that decide if you're a criminal or not. Paul wants to have me be seen as a criminal."

' _Bad blood._ ' Celtic's mask automatically translated the word 'criminal' for him. He handed the mask back to her,

"But you didn't kill his father. How can he claim that when he doesn't know for sure himself what happened?" He asked. Athena slipped the mask back off. "He doesn't need to. he can plant false evidence, or even pay the courts enough to make them declare me as a murderer." She said with slumped shoulders.

Celtic didn't know how else to reply to that.

The closest he and his kind had to the 'courts' she was talking about, were their council of ancients. A tribe of some of the strongest and oldest warriors that dictated the honor code they lived by. They interpreted and enforced their code as justly as possible.

To hear that the ooman's own type of Council of Ancients could be so easily bribed into bad blood behavior made him angry beyond belief.

He was broken out of his stupor by Athena's sigh. "Look, Celtic. . .If Lucinda, Lex, and I do end being taken to court and tried. . .you and the others may have to hide on your own for a while." She softly said. "We won't be around to help you if we're jailed. . ."

Before he could reply, Athena stood up. "I'm going to go check on Lucinda. . ."

And with that, she left the common room.

* * *

 _Author's note: I'm sorry this is so late!_

 _Work and Christmas made this last week super tiring and busy. So here's an extra long chapter to make up for it! Hope you can forgive me for being late on the updates._


	35. A Christmas Special

Scar stared at the glowing tree that was taking over the majority of the ****ooman**** 's 'living' room.

When the four yautja were taught what this room was called, they had assumed it was a room the ****lou-dte kales**** gave birth in. Hence the 'living' part. Turns out it was just a room that they gathered in often to socialize.

Now this 'living' room had one of the _ooman's_ native trees in it, and it was covered in weird hooked balls and strings of small lights. There were also strange boxes underneath the tree, all piled up and weirdly colorful.

"Lex!" He called out. "What is this?" His _ooman_ partner came bounding down the stairs and Scar thought that her clothes were weirder than normal. They were all red and lined with white fur. ' _It doesn't look that bad on her though._ ' Scar thought to himself as slight arousal at the sight of her overcame him. He hadn't seen her in a month due to a hunting trip.

Lex stopped in front of him and grinned. "It's a Christmas tree!" She exclaimed.

Scar blinked at her. "Chris. . .masss?" He hated having to learn new words that didn't have an immediate translation to his own. Although his pronunciation of her language was better now, new words always tripped him up.

Lex nodded her head at him. "Yep! It's a holiday we celebrate." She explained.

Scar tilted his head. "Celebrate for what?" He asked. Lex bit her lip. "Various reasons. Some people celebrate it as a time to give gifts to others and spend time with families. Some people celebrate it in honor of their god and savior. And others just enjoy it for the break from work." She explained. Scar clicked his mandibles curiously. "Why?" He asked.

"Just because." Lex shrugged. "I'm not an expert on how it all started, but we've kind of just accepted it. At least, the people living in this country have."

Before Scar could ask more, Chopper came into the room, hauling their latest kill over his shoulders. He looked at the tree and clacked his mandibles. "When did you get this in here?" He asked.

"While you four were out hunting." Athena answered as she came down the stairs with Lucinda right behind her. "It was supposed to be your surprise."

Lucinda ran up to Chopper and hugged him from the side while he bent down and rubbed her cheek with a mandible. Celtic came in next, and watched the spectacle from the doorway. "What's all this?" Yeyinde came in next and voiced the same question after Celtic did.

Lex sighed. "Do I have to explain this all again?"

The others replied immediately. "Yes."

* * *

Celtic sat on the couch with an arm wrapped around Athena as she leaned against him.

Scar and Lex were in the kitchen making Christmas dinner and Chopper and Lucinda were off somewhere else doing who knows what. Yeyinde had gone up to his room for a quick nap before dinner.

Celtic squeezed Athena's arm gently. "So this Christmas-" He began. "You give gifts?" Athena nodded at him. "Yep. I've already got yours under the tree." Celtic looked over at said tree. "So that's what those boxes are." "Yep!" Athena grinned. "You get to open one tonight and the rest tomorrow morning." Celtic cocked his head at her. "Why only one tonight?" He asked. Athena shrugged. "Just how my family has always done it. I don't know if the others will do that as well, but you'll get to open one."

Celtic's lower mandibles drooped in a frown. "But I didn't get you anything."

Athena grinned. "I can think of. . .something you can give me tonight." She grinned. Celtic felt his nether regions begin to heat up by her implications, but then she leaned over and softly started clicking and clacking at him in his own language. What she said to him made his mandibles flush green. "You want me to try ****that**** tonight?!" He asked. Athena nodded, glad she had learned his language somewhat enough to speak her request.

"But I don't have the same mouth as you _oomans_!" Celtic protested. "It won't feel. . .as wonderful as when you do it."

Athena giggled. "I don't think you understand how sensitive we are down there. As long as you're gentle, nearly anything feels good when it rubs us right." She explained. Celtic tilted his head at her. "So I can bite you then?" He was only half joking when he asked. "Just don't bite hard." Athena nodded.

Celtic was now desperately willing the night to come faster.

* * *

Lucinda was in her room with Chopper and was trying to get him to try hot chocolate.

"It's delicious!" She insisted. "It's not good for us." Chopper replied back. Lucinda squinted at him. "Honestly, I expected that kind of response coming from Celtic or Yeyinde." She declared. Chopper frowned at her. "You've got me trying too many sweets. Yeyinde is the one who reprimanded me for consuming too much sugar." He argued. Lucinda couldn't help but laugh at this and nearly doubled over with the hot coco mug still in her hands. Chopper had to take it from her while she laughed at him.

"You're lucky I think you're cute." He grumbled, setting the mug aside. Lucinda giggled and tried to control herself. "Oh, you think I'm more than cute." She teased.

"Sure I do. I also think you're clingy, emotional, and overly hyper when you have this much sugar." Chopper teased back as he placed the mug up higher and out of her reach. Lucinda couldn't help but grin at him. "You also think I'm beautiful, cuddly, and apparently taste good." She countered. Now Chopper grinned back with two mandibles raised. "Especially with your clothes off." He purred at her.

Lucinda blushed hard and Chopper sidled up closer to her. "Lex said Christmas was a celebration, right?"

Lucinda reluctantly nodded at him. He came closer. "I think I know how we should celebrate it." He placed his hands on her hips and drew her closer. "What do you say?" Lucinda shivered and placed her hands on top of his. "Depends. How long is this celebration going to take before dinner?" Chopper leaned his face down and stroked her brow with a mandible. "The quicker we start, the sooner we get it done before then." Lucinda bit her lip. "Then let's get started."

If there was one word to describe Chopper and Lucinda's relationship, it would be this: Rabbits.

* * *

Scar was desperately trying not to stare at Lex whenever she bent over.

He was already tight beneath the loin cloth enough, but she just kept having to conveniently bend over for some odd reason or another in the kitchen. They were supposed to be making dinner together, but all Scar could think about was all the convenient ways he could grind on her while they worked. Instead, he was busy holding himself back and hiding the evidence of his arousal as best as possible.

Lex knew he was horny. She could tell by his mandibles. Whenever he got all hot and bothered, his mandibles would tighten up around his teeth harder than normal and they would look a slightly brighter green than they normally did.

She knew all of this and was purposely trying to get him to crack.

She bent over as many times as she could, but he was doing pretty well on holding himself back. She went for a different tactic. "It's hot in here." She mumbled, and took off the apron first. When he didn't look bothered enough by that, she took off her pants as well. She heard an audible gasp coming from him and bent over once more to tease him. Her shirt was long enough to cover her arse while she was standing, but when she was bent over. . .

His heavy footsteps thumped across the kitchen as he stood right behind her. She calmly stood back up and turned around to look at him.

"Are you taunting me?" He demanded. Lex had to fight to keep herself from grinning. "No." She replied. "But I am giving you an invitation." She reached up with one hand and gently grasped one of his dreadlocks before sliding her hand down the length of it. Scar visibly shivered and grabbed her by her waist. "Do we not have to make dinner?" He asked, voice tight as he continued to hold back. "Dinner's already in the oven." Lex answered. "I've just been trying to get you to act this entire time."

Scar scowled as she giggled at him. "Took you long enough to come over." She grinned.

Without another word, Scar wrapped an arm around her legs and threw her over his shoulder. "Hey!" Lex giggled. Scar grunted. "If you wanted me to act, all you had to do was say so." He grumbled as he began to carry her upstairs to their shared bedroom.

Yeyinde became cross as he was woken up from his nap by obvious thumping coming from both sides of his bedroom.

* * *

Dinner was awkward that night.

Yeyinde glared at Chopper and Scar through the majority of it while Lex and Lucinda seemed to be exhausted but satisfied as they silently ate. Only Celtic and Athena seemed unperturbed by the awkwardness at the table, but then again, Celtic seemed distracted by his thoughts and Athena had a secretive grin on the entire time.

Dinner was cleared quickly and everyone said their goodnights to each other before going back to their rooms.

"I better not be woken up by you two again." Yeyinde clacked at Chopper and Scar as he went back to sleep again. Chopper and Scar looked unrepentant but cowed as they hustled back into their rooms with their _ooman_ mates for the night.

Celtic and Athena were thankfully further down the hall from the others and could enjoy themselves as much as they wanted as long as they kept the noise down.

As soon as the door was shut behind them, Celtic tugged at Athena's clothes and pulled her over to the bed. Athena laughed. "Someone's eager." She teased. Celtic trilled. "I can't help it. You got me excited." He gently pushed her down to the bed. Athena laughed again. "Good. You get rougher when you've been excited for a while." She purred. Celtic cocked his head at her. "You like it when I'm rough?" He asked.

Athena made a so-so motion with her hand. "Depends on the areas you get rough with me in." She explained.

"Which areas?" He asked. Athena once again clicked her answer at him, and he grinned proudly at her progress. "You're getting better at my language." He praised. Athena smirked. "I can think of another language we can get better at." She flirted. Celtic let out a purr and wiggled her pants and panties off before meeting her eyes. She nodded at him and he dived his head down and got rough with her again that night.

Marry Christmas everyone!

* * *

 _Author's note: I would like to say first that this chapter is in no way canon to the original story! I just felt I should give you something special this time instead of the usual chapters as a gift._

 _So Marry early Christmas you horny bunnies! And happy holidays to all of those who celebrate other holidays besides Christmas. I hope you have a good and joyous season as well!_

 _Love you all!_


	36. Sacrifice and Catpure

There was a saying once. " _Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong_." Murphy's law.

The group of humans and humanoids soon found out that everything really could go wrong. For a while, everything seemed calm and Paul seemed subdued enough that he wouldn't stir up trouble again.

They were sorely wrong.

Chopper was once again sneaking food from the kitchens. Unbeknownst to him, there had risen a complaint from the staff of disappearing food from the store rooms. The captain was notified of this, and when the cameras were checked and the food stock counted three times, no one could come up with a reason or explanation for how it was disappearing.

Thanks to this, Chopper thought he was safe when he once again journeyed to the kitchens.

Celtic had been following close behind him the entire time. Both yautja were cloaked and making as little noise as possible. Chopper had no idea Celtic was there, and Celtic decided a reprimand for him was past due for his lack of awareness.

They snuck into the kitchen and Celtic waited behind Chopper while his friend reached out and grabbed the handle of the fridge.

Both boys heard the alarming click of some metal contraption as soon as Chopper opened the door, but only Celtic was quick enough to act. He shoved Chopper out of the way just as a net shot out and wrapped around him from the depths of the fridge.

Chopper watched in stunned shock as the net that was meant for him wrapped around an invisible being and suddenly activated a power source.

The net lit up and Celtic was suddenly thrashing and screaming on the floor in pain as electricity coursed through the netting. His cloaking device sparked up and malfunctioned, leaving him completely visible once more.

"Celtic!" Chopper rapidly clicked as he made a move to go to his friend's aid.

He had to stop himself as the doors to the kitchens were thrown open and multitudes of humans rushed inside. They surrounded the squirming Celtic and gasped at the sight of him. Chopper was frantically thinking of what to do when the crowd parted as two ****ooman**** males came in. Chopper recognized one as Paul while the other he hadn't seen before.

The unknown _ooman_ gasped in shock while Paul seemed unfazed. "Get these people out of here, Leighton." He ordered.

The captain gave a shaky nod of his head while he got busy clearing everyone out. Once everyone was gone, Paul knelt down to Celtic's level and smirked. "I've been waiting for you." He leered at the humanoid. "They warned me of your existence, but I never thought I'd actually get a chance in my life time to actually see one of you." He stood back up. "But then this expedition happened and my hopes got up." He clapped his hands and kicked at Celtic's now unconscious body. "Now time to get you restrained before you wake up."

A team of hired thugs came in and picked up the humanoid. None of them noticed the door swing out one more time or the sound of running heavy footsteps.

* * *

"The _oomans_ have Celtic!" Chopper rapidly clacked off as he slammed Athena's door open and then shut again.

Startled, Yeyinde looked up at Chopper in shock while Athena just looked at him curiously. She couldn't understand him without the mask. Right now he looked like he had run for several miles without stopping.

"What?!" Yeyinde stood up and towered over Chopper. "What happened?!"

For a second, nothing was said as Chopper lowered his head in shame. "It was my fault." He softly clicked. "The _oomans_ caught signs of my presence and laid a trap for me. . .Celtic took the fall for it." His head lowered even further. "They captured him. . ."

Yeyinde was stunned into silence and Athena became worried. "What's going on?" She asked, feeling the tension in the room getting thicker.

With a heavy heart, Yeyinde relayed the message to her and Athena gaped at him. "Is he hurt?!" She yelped. Yeyinde asked the same thing to Chopper, he made an unsure gesture. "He was unconscious when I left. The trap was a net that was fueled by lightning. It caused him too much pain." He explained.

Yeyinde once again told Athena and she stood up when he was finished. "I'm getting the others. Wait one minute."

* * *

The group was assembled and told the news. Scar was the first to react when it was over. "We've got to break him out now!" He declared, though only the other two yautja could understand him. Yeyinde acted as interpreter and told the girls what he said. Lucinda shook her head.

"Yes we have to break him out, but if we do it now, he won't escape. We're stuck in the middle of the ocean and he'd have to hide on the ship until we reach land. Everyone will be looking for him, and there's no doubt that another back up team will have been alerted and waiting for us at land to help the search and capture." She explained.

Scar felt his anger rise and he was about to stomp around the room in a huff until Lex put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He's anger subsided, but his anxiety for his friend still persisted.

Athena tapped her foot. "We'll have to break him out as soon as we reach land. And then the four of you will have to make yourselves scarce and escape as far as possible without us for a while."

The group thought this part of the plan was sound, but now they were concerned with the part of breaking him out.

"How can we do this?" Yeyinde asked. The girls thought for a while and Lex was the one who spoke first. "We'll have to create a distraction while you bust him out." She said. "We'll have to time this right, or else it won't work." "We'll also need to know where he's being held." Lucinda added.

Chopper tapped his foot and looked at Scar, who was deep in thought.

"Yeyinde." He softly called the ancient's name. "Chopper and I can release Celtic. Forgive my ignorance if it seems like it is, but I would be more reassured if you were not on this vessel at the time of escape." Yeyinde gave a tired sigh. "No, your idea is not ignorant." He replied. "And I believe it best as well. I sadly cannot give you the same aid as I would if I were younger and stronger." "You've given us many other valuable things instead." Scar reassured. Yeyinde gave a weak yautjan chuckle. "I just hope it's enough." He replied before placing a hand on both Chopper's and Scar's shoulders. "Look out for each other when the time comes. The _ooman_ world is a strange place for our kind."

While they were talking, Lucinda had agreed to go find Celtic's holding place. "I'm small and unnoticeable at most times." She reasoned.

Athena wanted to argue that she should do it, but then Chopper came over and paused the conversation. He slid his gauntlet off of his arm the best he could using his broken one, and handed the device to Lucinda. The woman rose an eyebrow and slipped the thing over her arm, and then Chopper pressed a button for her. In an instant, Lucinda became nearly invisible. "You want me to use this?" Lucinda asked once Chopper pressed the button again and made her visible once more.

He nodded at her and Lucinda gave him a hug around the waist which threw him off guard.

"Thank you!" She said happily. Chopper didn't know why he had to be thanked for doing something that should have seemed obvious, but he let her have her way anyway. Athena stepped forward. "I know this ship well." She declared. "Let me get a map and show you the most likely places they are holding him before you leave."

Lucinda agreed to this and the group got to work fine-tuning their plan.

* * *

Of course Celtic was being held in the last place Lucinda would look.

Lucinda had checked everywhere on the map accept for the last spot. Celtic was being held in the very bottom of the ship. When she found him, he was handcuffed to a wall and held behind a simple set of bars. When Lucinda crawled closer, he perked up at the sound of her approaching footsteps, but seemed to wince in pain.

Lucinda materialized in front of him and Celtic gave out a click in surprise. "It's just me." Lucinda reassured him, taking off the mask that Chopper had let her borrow as well.

Celtic sunk back in relief at the sight of her and Lucinda put the mask back on. "Can you understand me?" She asked through the mask. Celtic nodded and clicked back at her. "They took all of my equipment and weapons." He clacked at her. The mask translated back to Lucinda and she continued on. "Chopper messed with the mask enough that it can translate both ways for us." She responded.

As if to prove itself, the mask gave off clicks and clacking sounds as well as soon as she was done talking.

Celtic nodded his approval and Lucinda went on to explain to him the plan for his break out. Once finished, Celtic gave a groan of impatience. "All of this waiting is going to make me grow soft." He complained. Lucinda looked at his tiny handcuffs and rose an eyebrow. "Can't you break out of those?" She asked.

Celtic jerked his hand for demonstration and electricity shot up the cuff and zapped his arm. Celtic gave a yell of pain and tried to hold his arm as still as possible so as not to trigger it again. "This thing can somehow sense when I'm trying to break it." He explained through gritted mandibles.

"Oh." Lucinda replied with a frown. ' _Probably pressure sensitive._ ' She thought.

Celtic gave a resigned sigh of annoyance before looking at Luci. " ** **Lou-dte kale.**** " He said. ' _Female._ ' The mask translated back to Lucinda. She looked at him curiously as he continued. "Tell Athena to blame me. . ." Lucinda just stared at him. "What?" She asked in confusion. Celtic let two mandibles droop in a frown. "Tell Athena to claim that I'm the one who killed your team. Have her blame me." He clarified. Lucinda gaped at him. "Why?!" She exclaimed. Celtic stood up straighter in his seat. "She explained to me what that _Pall_ human planned to do." He explained, still not pronouncing the man's name right. "I do not want her to be labeled a bad blood for something that wasn't her fault." His head drooped a little when he said this. "I know all too well what that feels like."

Lucinda just stared at him for several seconds before he rose his head again. "Please, you have to trust me." He said. "She needs to trust me!"

Lucinda stood up. "I'll tell her." she promised. "Thank you." Celtic let his head droop again and Lucinda left his cell.

* * *

"He wants me to do what?!" Athena shouted.

Lucinda frowned and explained again when Athena shook her head. "He's crazy! Paul will kill him straight out if he believed that Celtic killed Mr. Weyland." Athena declared. Lucinda could only raise her arms in an 'I'm sorry' gesture and Athena felt like tearing out her own hair. "He can't just expect me to sell him ou-"

There was a knock at the door.

Instantly, the three yautja in the room cloaked themselves before Lex opened the door. Paul immediately stepped in, not waiting for an invite. "You." He pointed at Athena. "I need to talk to you." He said, ignoring the other two girls in the room.

Athena frowned and followed him out into the hallway.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **ooman**** : human

- ** **lou-dte kale**** : female/ child bearer

 _An update at last! Mwahahaha!_

 _Anyways, thank you all for your patience. Christmas takes up a lot of your time even several days after the holiday._

 _Speaking of which, one of my chicks hatched! At 12 at night, this little guy decided to come into the world despite being two days late. He's a loud chirper, I'll tell you that._

 _Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you in the next one!_


	37. Shifting Blame

Paul turned on Athena as soon as they entered the hallway. She didn't even flinch at the angry expression on his face.

"I found your little secret." He taunted.

Athena frowned at him and tried to play dumb. "Oh? And what is that?" She mocked. Paul growled at her. "Those. . .things! You knew one was on the ship!" He accused. ' _More than one._ ' Athena thought to herself but didn't voice it. She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "No, I didn't." She lied. Paul snarled at her. "You knew one was here and you knew they existed!" He accused.

Athena realized her dilemma.

Celtic wanted her to blame him. He wanted her to escape while he took the fall. Her and the others as well. Maybe he held some responsibility for Weyland's death, but definitely not all of it! Not even a half of it! He was already dying and was going to die down there for a surety, whether he wanted to admit it or not. And it wasn't even Celtic that killed him in the end, it was. . .

She didn't even know who was responsible for his death, now that she thought about it.

Athena had a choice to make. Celtic gave her and the others an opportunity to fix some of this situation and she realized that to not take it would make his sacrifice in vain.

Athena sighed as she made her choice. She chose to tell the truth. . . Mostly.

"I knew they existed." She replied. "I didn't know they were on the boat." She folded her arms as Paul stared at her. "You're lying." He hissed. Athena scowled at him. "What? You think you would have believed me if I had just outright admitted to their existence?" She snapped. Paul remained silent for too long and that's when Athena realized what was wrong. " ** **You**** knew they existed!" She exclaimed. Paul's lips tilted into a guilty frown and Athena shoved him backwards against the wall. Paul shoved her hands off of him and stood up straighter. "What? ****You**** think you would have believed me if I had just outright admitted to their existence?" He mocked. Athena's lips pulled back in a snarl and Paul took a step back. "It's too late anyway." He threw out. "Your little friend is locked away for now." "He's not my friend." Athena growled, though her heart gave a painful jolt to remindher how untrue that was. Paul smirked at her. "Oh really? Then why were you trying so hard to hide his existence from me?" He taunted.

There was silence for several minutes. Athena's mind was trying to wrack up an excuse for his accusation when a realization of a loophole dawned on her.

"Because. . ." She softly said. "He's the one who killed the beast that murdered your father. . ."

Now it was Paul's turn to be stunned into silence. "What?" He asked, disbelief not hidden in his tone. Athena exhaled a breath before continuing. "You knew about the humanoid's existence, but did you know about the other ones? The ones that these humanoids have come to earth just to hunt for?" She asked. Paul didn't bother hiding the skeptical look on his face. "If you're covering up for them agai-" He was interrupted as Athena bent down and reached into her bag. She came back up later with a curious object in hand.

The severed tail of the first bug alien she killed.

Paul stared as she held it out to him. "Here's the proof." She softly said. Paul took the object delicately in his hands and examined it. "What is it?" He demanded, turning it every angle. Athena bit her lip. "It's a tail tip. . ." She admitted. Paul rose an eyebrow at her and Athena pointed at it. "The second creature doesn't look anything like a human. It was hive-minded with a giant queen controlling them. Lex, Lucinda and I were lucky to escape from it with our lives."

Paul weighed the object in his hands and pressed his thumbs on the intricate ridges. "And you said. . .the tail belonging to this creature is the one that killed my father?"

Athena nodded and Paul's fists clenched around the object. "I'll be keeping this." He stated, leaving no room for argument. Athena shrugged. "Go ahead and have it. Just don't put the blame on the wrong person." "Or wrong ** **thing****." Paul added as he turned and walked away.

Although she was relieved that some of the truth had been revealed, Athena had a feeling that this battle was far from over.

* * *

Celtic was woken up by the sound of a slamming door.

He lifted his head and looked up with a wince as a current of electricity shocked his arms. He held perfectly still as the ****ooman**** he currently despised the most walked up to the bars of his cell. The human was tossing a black object in his hands, but Celtic couldn't tell what it was.

Paul was silent for several seconds before sighing and finally speaking.

"Athena says you're the one who killed the beast that murdered my father." He spoke, not looking up. Celtic tilted his head at him as the mask Lucinda had left with him translated Paul's words. 'Athena blamed the ****kiande amedha****?' He thought. Paul looked up and gave him a hard stare.

"I'll say thank you for killing the beast. . .but I know for a damn fact that you had something to do with it being there in the first place!"

Paul slammed a fist on the bars of the cage, but Celtic didn't even flinch. "Mark my words!" Paul seethed. "I'll make you pay for his death! One way or the other!"

Paul turned and left the cell while Celtic was left to ponder what the hell "mark my words" meant.

* * *

Paul's room was dark and depressing when he made the call.

His phone was lit up and he had taken a picture of the tail Athena had handed over before dialing a number he had hoped he'd never have to see again. On the third ring, a sweet operator voice asked him his reason for calling. "You didn't tell me that there was a second freak that existed!" Paul snapped, cutting right to the chase.

The operator voice no longer sounded sweet and sugary as it changed to a tone of seriousness.

"That wasn't what you needed to kno-" "Needed to know?!" Paul snapped. "I didn't need to know about those humanoid monsters either and yet you told me!" "We told you on the possibility that you would run into them on this trip." The lady on the other end replied. "Why this trip?" Paul griped. "You said they show up in areas with heavy conflict, this trip had none to start and yet they were the ones that caused the conflict in the end!" The lady on the other end sighed. "No, but we had a feeling that this pyramid that your father discovered had some sort of connection to them. A connection that they might have wanted to protect or destroy once it had resurfaced."

Both were silent for several seconds before Paul sighed. "What is the second creature?" He demanded.

"We don't know." The woman replied. "We know more about the humanoids than we do about any other alien creature." Paul licked his lips. "I have a picture of the creature's tail." He admitted. The lady on the other end was stunned into silence before her voice held a hint of excitement when she next spoke. "Send it to us. we may be able to identify it." She demanded.

Paul clicked some buttons and the picture was sent off. Her response was immediate. "Do you have this tail piece?" She asked. "Yes." Paul replied. "I'll bring it with me when we meet at the docks." "And the humanoid?" She asked.

"Locked away and waiting for your arrival." Paul answered. "Excellent." She responded. "Make sure no one interacts with it. These things can go two days before needing a meal. Make sure he gets the bare minimum. We do not want human error giving him an opportunity to escape."

"Believe me." Paul replied. "He wont."

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time:_

 _-_ Kiande amedha: _Hard meat_

 _-ooman: human_

 _Hello faithful readers!_

 _This is your late New Years gift, so happy new years! Love you all and thank you for reading!_ _Also, please comment your thoughts on the chapter. Some of you may not know this, but author's prefer your commentary over votes and followings any day. Do not be afraid to bombard us with long comments, or even personal messages about the story. We enjoy reading for a reason, and appreciate it when you take the time to give us a lengthy reply back on the chapter or story as a whole._

 _Thank you!_

 _Also, to all of my readers out there, where did you all come from? Seriously, within the last three weeks ya'll suddenly jumped in here. Did do some sort of advertisement that I'm not aware of? Or somebody you all know mentioned this fanfiction so you all decided to check it out? Let me know please.  
Thank you again!  
_


	38. Son of a Bad-Blood

_'You're the son of a_ _ **ic'jit**_ _! I refuse to train tainted_ _ **thwei**_ _.'_

 _'He'll follow in the ways of his father. It's too risky to raise him.' 'You're weak because your father was weak.' 'Your mother no longer wishes to see you. You'll have to leave.' 'Stupid pup! You act the same way your father did!' 'Why the elders ever let you join our clan, I'll never know. But it doesn't take an ancient's wisdom to know that you were this clan's biggest mistake.'_

"I think he's waking up."

Celtic was disturbed from his nightmare riddled ****dhi'ki**** by the sound of _ooman_ speech. The unwanted memories were set aside in favor of watching the _oomans_ with unwavering distrust. One was the _ooman_ he currently despised the most. The male who had attacked Athena and had set the trap that got him in this situation in the first place. The second he didn't recognize. A man with unusual clothes that were colored white and reached the floor.

"How long has he been here?" The second _ooman_ asked.

Celtic growled in frustration as he realized he wouldn't be able to understand anything they said without his mask. Lucinda had explained that she couldn't leave it with him in case they take it away permanently or suspect that it was brought to him.

"Eight days." The Paul _ooman_ replied.

"Did you collect any urine samples?" The doctor asked. "Plenty." Paul replied in disgust. "Had a bucket under him the entire time." "What about feces and blood samples?" The look of disgust from Paul remained. "Yes, sadly. They await you in the lab." "Excellent. I will need sperm samples as well." "What?!" Paul exclaimed. The doctor scowled at him. "What did you expect? This is an investigation of a new species. Of course I am expected to collect sperm samples." "I am not collecting that for you." Paul replied.

The doctor gave a dramatic sigh. "Then I shall collect them myself. Sedate him, if you will." He gestured back to Celtic.

Celtic could only roar at them when they entered his cell and a needle was brought out. They jabbed him in the shoulder and he immediately fell into ****dhi'ki-de****.

* * *

His father stood over him with the severed ****syra'yte**** of their clan's ancient in his hands.

He looked down to see his son Celtic looking up at him, and then he snarled at his own son. "You listen to me now, boy. Don't ever believe the lies this fool has told you. You learn from me only now." When Celtic made a move to protest, he was slapped viciously across the face. The blow was hard enough that a mandible was badly sprained and bruised for a long while.

The rest of the memory is a blur for a while, but eventually the crimes of his father were brought to light.

He was chased out of the clan and forced into hiding. Celtic saw him dash into the trees as the clan gave chase. He was left behind with his mother, who was grasping his hand too tightly and stood rigidly on the sidelines. Not a tear was shed for her failure of a mate.

The dream changed and Celtic was forced to relive the memory of his instructors shunning him when he eventually went back to training. They believed he would turn out exactly like his father, and refused to let him become stronger. Celtic begged and pleaded, but it was no use. Instead of mercy for his situation, he only received mistrust and scrutiny.

The dream changed once more to the most painful memory he had.

Worse than the day his father had murdered in cold blood was the day his mother had disowned and rejected him.

She had dragged him to the center of their village. In front of everyone, she declared him a failure and unfit for the right to merely survive. She tossed him to the mud and turned her back on him before leaving back to her home without a glance back. everyone else went back to their tasks at hand without sparing him a look. He wasn't the first pup to be rejected by their mother for some genetic transgression on his part. He would not be the last.

He laid in the mud and silently cried for hours and hours until the elders of the clan finally collected him and took him away for a council on what to do with him.

* * *

Celtic was once again disturbed from his sleep, but this time from a gentle hand shaking his shoulder.

Celtic jolted up, startling his visitor who jumped back a step. The intruder was wearing his mask and had a familiar tall, feminine appearance. The _ooman_ stepped back and took off Celtic's mask. "A. . .thee. . .na. . ." Celtic spoke out, a sense of relief and excitement over coming him. "Hey big guy." Athena softly greeted back and kneeled down next to him. He had no idea what she just said, but leaned his neck forward slightly as she placed his mask back over his face. "I managed to swipe the keys." She said, every word translating back to him. "I can take off the cuffs for a while, but I'll have to put them back on when I leave."

He didn't know what she meant by 'cuffs' until she produced an oddly shaped piece of compressed ****n'ithya**** and unlocked his shackles with it.

As soon as his shackles came off, she gasped in shock. All around his wrists were nearly blackened burn marks. Celtic was shocked as well, but he hadn't expected the damage to be this bad. He tilted his head in surprise when Athena's hands gently grasped his and held them up closer to her ****dekna**** for inspection. Her lips pulled downward, but Celtic wasn't knowledgeable enough on human expressions to know what that one meant. "The cuffs did these?" She asked.

Celtic nodded his head and handed the mask back to her, though Athena noticed that he flinched while moving his wrist too much.

Athena put the mask on and Celtic lowered his hands. "How are the others?" He asked, softly clicking at her. Athena gave the mask back and responded. "They're fine. They're all worried about you though. And so am I. You were crying in your sleep. Are you alright?" Celtic grew startled by this revelation and reached up with his clawed handss to feel his mandibles once he'd taken off the mask. They were wet and his eyes did sting a bit as well. He clacked his mandibles in irritation at himself.

His kind didn't tolerate crying. Any mourning was done in private and you hid the evidence of it if you wanted to make an appearance in public again. Celtic internally berated himself for letting himself be weak. This was the worst time to show any weakness!

Athena took the mask off of his face and put it on while he looked down at the floor.

"I'm fine." He clicked to her once she had the mask on. "I didn't even notice I was. . .shedding water. . ." Athena gave the mask back. "Did the cuffs cause it? I know burns like that can be painful-" She was interrupted by Celtic shaking his head and handing the mask over. " ** **M-di**** , it wasn't pain. . .at least, not the kind you get from a wounded body." He didn't know why he admitted that last part to her. He hadn't intended to.

Athena frowned and placed the mask on him. "Then what pain was it?" She softly asked.

Celtic frowned and when she placed the mask back on, he found himself answering before he could stop himself. "Just bad memories." He wanted to smack himself for admitting it, but it was out now. The mask was once again traded and Athena took a seat next to him in his cell. Celtic noticed how their thighs were touching and he didn't know why that fact made him happy. "Did the memories come in dreams?" Athena asked. "You were asleep when I came in here."

Celtic's lower mandibles drooped into a frown as the conversation continued. He didn't want to open up to her, but it as too late now. " ** **Sei-i****. . ."

Before Celtic could react, Athena's soft hand moved over and slid over the top of his. She lightly twined their fingers together and Celtic felt a painful thump in his chest along with burning sensation in the sides of his mandibles. He openly stared at her, but the look in her dekna stopped him from demanding an explanation. He didn't know what the look was for sure, but he was too afraid of guessing it and getting it wrong. "Celtic." Her soft voice spoke his name. "What happened?" She gently asked, giving him an encouraging look.

This sudden affectionate side from her brought out his desire to open up. Before he knew it, he was explaining everything to her.

His father had murdered an ancient that ruled their clan. He did not agree with some of the ways the ancient upheld and interpreted their hunter's code. His crime was found out and he was branded a bad-blood, forever condemned to exile or death when found. Being the son of a bad-blood meant he was no longer trusted. Family ties and genetics made his kind suspicious of him. They thought he was doomed to be like his father. His mother publicly disowned him, as was her right. A mother could refuse to raise a pup if she deemed it unfit to live. Being his father's son, she believed the suspicions as well and thought him doomed to be a criminal like his father.

The clan elders took him to five other clans to see if any of them would take him in. That's how he ended up in his current one.

"The ancient that over saw this clan brought me in. No one argues with the demands of an ancient once it's been said." Celtic explained. Athena quickly handed the mask back, a question burning on her tongue. "So Yeyinde kind of adopted you?" Celtic shook his head and gave her back the mask. "No, it was a different ancient. This clan has had three since I've been in it. The second is still alive, but he is back on our home planet with the rest of our clan. Yeyinde is just the over-seer of the hunting parties."

Athena frowned and placed the mask back in his hands. "Celtic?" She began. "Is. . .what happened in your childhood, is that why you hated marking me? Because you didn't want to let this clan down?" Celtic's heart leaped in his chest as she just revealed the exact reason he had not wanted to mark her as his equal. This clan had given him a second chance. He didn't want to let them down.

Celtic actually felt himself trembling as he looked at the ground and the shame from his previous actions came back and hit him full force. "S. . . _sei-i_. . ."

As if his heart couldn't pound any faster, Athena went and did something that caused him to feel his heart react in a way that only happened when he ran full force. She flung her arms around him and gave him a ****chi'ytei**** that was tight and unbreakable. Celtic froze in shock with mandibles spread out wide. His mind was bombarded with several thoughts at once and he couldn't organize them. _'Why is she giving me so much affection?' 'Do I deserve it?' 'Her breasts are really soft.' 'Why do I want to hold her back just as tightly?' 'She feels so warm.' 'She's soft all over.' 'Why do I feel like burying my face in her neck?' 'Why do I feel like never letting her go?' 'Why am I suddenly so scared and yet so excited?' 'Please. . .don't ever leave my side. . . please don't ever let go of me.'_

Athena had instinctively hugged him on a split second decision and was relieved when he finally hugged her back moments later.

It all made sense to her now! Why he was so prideful and why he had acted the way he did. He just wanted to make his new clan proud of him and didn't want anything sabotaging that. That didn't excuse what he did, but. . .she couldn't be mad at him for it anymore. Humans did the same thing, for almost similar reasons as well. The crave for affection, attention, acceptance and praise was strong within any species that thrived on social interaction.

Celtic had just been fighting to have all them for his entire life and he hadn't even known it.

They hugged for several minutes. It might have been hours for all Athena knew. All she cared about at that moment was holding Celtic and giving him some of the affection she had realized he so desperately needed. She let Celtic experiment with the hug and move himself around to hug her in different positions. He'd bury his face in her neck every now and then and his arms would circle under hers to hug her tightly when he did. He'd change position again and circle his arms around her neck and Athena didn't mind since he'd start to play with her hair when he did that.

When her alarm went off, both persons jumped at the sound. Athena looked at her watch and sighed. "I've got to go. . ."

Celtic's heart lurched once more when she said that. He want to immediately and immaturely beg her to stay, but he held back because he knew it was best if she left. He held very still as she placed the restraints back on him and stood up with his mask in her hands. She placed it on his face once more and spoke. "The break out is happening tomorrow. Be ready to run. Scar and Chopper will bust you out of here."

With that, she took the mask, turned invisible, and left. As she walked out the door, Celtic realized with startling clarity the possible reason why his heart was now thumping wildly in his chest with her around.

And that made him more terrified than anything.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **ic'jit: bad blood****

- ** **thwei**** : blood

- ** **dhi'ki: unconcious****

- ** **dhi'ki-de: The Long Sleep (Death), unconscious/coma****

- ** **syra'yte: head****

- ** **n'ithya: earth/dirt/land/ground (or in this case, metal)****

- ** **dekna: eye/eyes/eyeball****

- ** **M-di: no****

- ** **Sei-i: yes/affirmative****

- ** **chi'ytei: hug/embrace****

 _I am very, very, very sorry if Celtic seemed too out of character for this chapter! I honestly hadn't intended for it to be as emotional as it did, but life happens. I ended up liking how it ended, so I stuck with it._

 _Thank you all for reading!_

 _Also, I might be getting a second job, so updates may only be a once a week thing from now on. Thank you all for reading, once again! Comment down below your thoughts and I will try to reply as much as possible._

 _To my reader: careninanina: Si, La historia tiene el mismo nombre.  
I really hope that translated well. I'd send this to you in PM, but you have PM deactivated.  
_


	39. Break Outs

The Piper Maru came to dock and Paul couldn't be more excited.

For the past couple of days, he had completely forgotten about Athena and her friends. He was much too fascinated with the human like creature he had locked up. The thing was bound to make him famous! Make him respected among the communities that previously only gave him notice because of his father's name.

His father. . .

Paul did love his father. He truly did. Sadly, his resentment was stronger at most times. At first it was his father's lack of attention. He wasn't neglectful, but work often times came before his own family. It was the resentment of a child, one Paul had thought he had outgrown. He never actually had outgrown it completely, but he was more logical now than he was then.

Second was his father's lack of affection.

This one came at a much later age. Paul had begun to work for him for several years now. His hope was that he could bridge the gap between himself and his father. It was still awkward and foreign around him, even when working on the same projects together. Paul's biggest let down was when his father named him the heir of his company, but still made no move to get to know his son further.

All he got was a slap on the back and a toast to the crowd.

Paul shook his head out of his trance. It didn't matter now. His father was gone and the creature possibly responsible was in his grasp. As soon as the boat was tied down, he'd have his name be known.

He clapped his hands together with glee and went back to giving out orders.

* * *

Celtic's slumber was disturbed once more by another presence in the room. For a moment, he had secretly hoped that it would be Athena again.

But it wasn't. Instead, the presence in the room was someone who was as equally welcomed as Athena. Or someones. . .

Chopper and Scar materialized in front of him and gave excited trills of greeting. Celtic gave an immediate greeting back, with equal excitement. The relief of seeing his ****Chiva mei'hsweis**** well and unharmed outweighed the sudden stinging pain he felt from the shackles that would shock him.

Scar waisted no time in ripping out the door made of iron bars while Chopper rushed into the cell.

"We have the key!" Chopper rapidly clicked as he yanked out the metal piece from his satchel and clumsily tried to fit it into the locks. Celtic was too happy to berate him for his sloppy behavior. As soon as the shackles were free, Celtic leapt up and clapped Chopper on the back while turning to Scar. "What is the strategy of escape?" He asked them both. Scar stood rigidly as sentry guard while Chopper did the explaining.

"Yeyinde and Lucinda are already off of the ****ju'dha**** vessel. They sent Lucinda with Yeyinde ahead so she could bring one of their ****n'ithya**** vessels to help with the escape. Lex and Athena plan to make a distraction so we can cloak and slip away while the other ****oomans**** are confused. We are to meet with Yeyinde off of the boat and hide until Athena and Lex escape as well. Then we are all going to go into hiding."

Celtic jolted when he heard that last part. "Even Athena?" He softly clicked. Chopper took note of how he didn't mention the other ****lou-dte kale**** 's names.

When Chopper nodded, Celtic protested. "I told her to blame me so she wouldn't _have_ to be titled a ****ic'jit****!" Chopper's lower mandibles drooped into a frown at his near life-long friend. "I don't know why they would be labeled _ic'jit_ from this. But clearly helping us goes against their own codes. Maybe they have a code of honor as well?" Chopper tried to reason.

From what Celtic could already tell, honor was a near foreign concept to these _oomans_.

"When do we leave?" He softly clicked, feeling less enthusiastic than he did before. "They said to start making our way out when we hear the _oomans_ running above." Scar answered from the doorway before tossing Celtic his mask and other gear.

Celtic wasted no time in getting ready to leave.

* * *

Lex and Athena snuck around the crowd as they tried to get through unnoticed.

Paul had called everyone in for a conference meeting that was starting in 20 minutes. Lex and Athena were trying to get to the cafeteria before the meeting started. Hard to do when everyone was pushing one way while you were trying to go the other.

"Excuse us." Athena politely said as she cut their way through. Lex thought it best to let the tallest person guide the way and silently followed close behind her.

When they finally got to the cafeteria, all of the food was prepped and ready to be served out for the last conference meeting before leaving on the dock. Athena immediately went to the drinks first before digging in her bag. Lex stood guard by the door, worryingly tapping her foot on the ground. "What food are you putting the laxatives in again?" She asked, biting her lip after speaking. "The alcohol drinks, the finger sandwiches, and the cake slices." Athena answered. Lex pulled a face. "You couldn't leave anything good left?" She complained. "I'm leaving the veggie and fruit cups alone!" Athena replied. "If I drugged everything, then it'd be too obvious. Besides, only some of each one is getting spiced." "I wanted one of the sandwiches." "Then grab one while you still can!"

Lex quickly grabbed a sandwich and stuffed it away while Athena went to work on the last cake slices.

"That should be everything." Athena announced before going back to Lex. "Good." Lex replied. "The cameras will be down for another five minutes. Let's go!" Both girls calmly left the room like nothing unusual was going on. After putting a good distance between themselves and the cafeteria, they passed by the caterers who were going back to grab their trays for the meeting. No one made eye contact as they passed, and both girls were grateful for that. Athena sighed as they made it into the giant temporary conference room. "It hasn't started yet." She breathed in relief. "Let's quickly find our seats." Lex replied.

As more people straggled in, both women aimed for seats angled towards the back of the room, closest to the escape doors.

They were ready to run when the crowd was.

* * *

Lucinda pulled the van around and parked it in a nearby lot by the docs.

Yeyinde uncloaked himself and gestured her over. He was standing guard over their bags which were piled high in an alleyway. Lucinda restarted the van and drove closer to him. She, Lex, and Athena had all gotten their suitcases ready beforehand to leave. Yeyinde was the one who suggested the girls get all of their belongings off of the vessel before they made their escape. One less thing to worry about. When the girls pointed out the factor of actually getting them off, he offered to carry them all. At first, Lucinda had tried to insist that she help him. But he refused, and even picked her up as well, having her ride on his shoulders while his other arm encircled the bags.

When he jumped off of the boat and onto the dock as soon as they were close enough, Lucinda nearly had a heart attack.

She clung on for dear life and had a hard time letting go once they were actually on the docks. Yeyinde had to forcefully remove her, though he was gentle in doing so. It took Lucinda 20 minutes to calm down before she could actually speak again. "S-S-Sorry f-for the trouble." She stuttered. Yeyinde merely patted her on the back to help clam her down.

Nearby was a car rental place. Lucinda went to grab a car while Yeyinde hid the bags.

Now here they were. Lucinda helped Yeyinde pile the bags into the van and then pulled the vehicle closer to the boat, but still out of sight enough that passerby's would just think she was waiting for someone to get off. Yeyinde sat in the back of the van, marveling at all of the technology inside.

They waited for a long time.

* * *

"I hear running!" Chopper announced excitedly.

Celtic and Scar were both listening intently by the door when Chopper announced this. They waited for the running to get louder before cloaking. "Let's go." Scar clicked at them and opened the door.

They ran up the stairs, but slowed down when they got to the top.

All the _oomans_ were trying to run for the nearest bathrooms. It was mass mayhem and a lot of dancing in place while waiting in a line. Scar and Chopper would have stopped to laugh at them if Celtic hadn't been urging them on. "Forget the _oomans_!" He hissed.

Chopper and Scar were about to run with him when they spotted Athena and Lex in the crowd as well.

Both _lou-dte kales_ were running for the edge of the ship. They were about to make it when Lex got her arm yanked back by another _ooman_. She fell behind in the crowd and Athena didn't notice her friend's absence. Scar did though, and he barreled into the _oomans_ after her. He gave a mighty roar that threw the crowd into an even bigger panic and chased after Lex who was being dragged away.

Athena got to the edge of the boat and swiveled on her feet when she heard the roar. She realized her friend was missing and was about to go back in and look for her when she was seized around the hips.

She looked back to find nothing there, but quickly realized that it had to be one of the humanoids.

"Who-" She was interrupted when the arm around her waist moved and picked her up in a single hold bridal style. If anyone was actually looking, it would seem as if she were being cradled by the air. Athena let out a shriek as she was suddenly launched off the edge of the boat and fell several stories down until they reached the doc.

Heart pounding, she looked at her holder to find that it was Celtic and he had uncloaked himself.

* * *

"Let go of me!" Lex shouted at Paul as he dragged her around.

Paul ignored her and threw her into a nearby room, charging in after her and slamming the door shut behind himself. "What did you do?!" He shouted at her. He looked close to popping a vein. He towered over her and tried to intimidate her by stepping into her comfort zone. Lex backed up a bit until she hit a wall.

"You and Athena let that creature out!" He suddenly swung out and punched the wall near her head.

Lex gave a defiant glare at him in response. "We did nothing!" She hissed. Paul raised his fist once more. " ** **LIAR!**** " Lex just assumed that he was going to hit the wall again, so she was completely surprised when the blow actually connected with her jaw. She fell to the side and gasped as the pain traveled up her jaw and her flesh began to throb. Without warning, another blow hit her ribs and she fell to the floor in a heap.

She coughed as Paul raised his foot to kick her. "I'll beat you until you tell me the truth!" He shouted, letting his foot fly.

Just as it was about to connect, Paul was knocked backwards so hard that he temporarily lost his vision for a moment. He slammed into the wall and slid to the floor. Through cracked eyes, he watched as a humanoid like creature suddenly became visible and bent over Lex. The creature helped the woman to her feet and took off his mask. He blearily watched as one of the creature's disgusting mandibles stretched out and seemed to tenderly brush across the surface of Lex's cheek that he had punched. When Lex started to tremble, the creature stood up straight and let out a roar that could never be mistaken for anything but rage.

The next thing Paul knew, two blades were piercing his chest and he was spurting out blood.

Scar didn't know if he wanted to skin the _ooman_ alive first or slowly pull the flesh from its bones while it still breathed. As soon as he heard the smack of flesh on flesh earlier, he had barged into the room, only to find Lex on the ground and curled in pain while the male _ooman_ had his foot raised for a fatal strike.

He wanted to rip the _ooman_ apart. He severely did. But he remembered the way Lex had reacted the last time she had seen the bodies he skinned. He didn't want to make her scared of him again.

Instead, he left the _ooman_ to slowly die while he picked up Lex and cradled her close before he carried her out.

* * *

"We have to go back in and get Lex!" Athena shouted as she was about to charge back towards the ship.

Celtic was about to reach out and hold her back when he spotted the heat signature of his Chiva brother and the ooman woman nearing the edge of the ship. Celtic grabbed Athena by the edge of her pants and pointed at the top of the vessel. Athena was about to turn and yell at him when she saw where he was pointing and stopped. Celtic slowly let go of her pants when he saw that she had calmed down, though he secretly wanted to keep holding on.

Athena saw that Lex had much the same reaction she did when being picked up by seemingly nothing and being tossed over the ledge of the boat.

When they landed, Lucinda behind her waisted no time in waving them over to the van. "Get in quick!" She shouted. Scar kept hold of Lex and ran over to the car. Celtic and Athena rushed over as well, jumping in and slamming the doors shut behind them. They saw that Chopper was already riding in the front seat with Lucinda while Yeyinde had a spot next to Scar and a dazed Lex.

Lucinda pulled the car around and sped out of the area.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **Chiva**** : trial

 ** **-mei'hsweis**** : brothers

- ** **ju'dha**** : water

- ** **n'ithya**** : ground

- ** **oomans**** : humans

- ** **lou-dte kale**** : female/ child bearer

- ** **ic'jit**** : Bad blood

 _Enjoy thine weekly update! Thank you for reading!_


	40. The Cabin

Lucinda drove the car with shaking limbs, one of which was being held gently in Chopper's large hands.

' _Who's idea was it to let the person with anxiety problems drive the escape bus?!_ ' She thought frantically in her head. Lex was close enough that she could see her friend trembling and offered to take over. "We're far enough that you can pull over to the side and we can quickly switch spots." Lucinda wanted to deny it at first, but decided it was better not to risk her having another attack while possibly driving. "Sure. . ." Lucinda pulled to the side of the road and all of the predators cloaked while Lex and Lucinda traded places. Chopper and Scar decided to switch as well, and quickly moved spots before the girls could protest that it wasn't necessary.

Lucinda, now in the back middle seats, leaned against Chopper and sighed when he draped an arm around her shoulders.

"Where are we going to hide?" Athena asked from the very back. She and Celtic took up a squished spot in the furthest back seats. They were touching thigh to thigh. Although Celtic didn't mind that fact, maybe even enjoyed it, his other side was squished by the chair they had to lean backwards to make more room for Yeyinde.

Lex answered Athena's question while looking in the review mirror at her. "My dad owned a cabin that I inherited when he passed. It's secluded enough that we can hide there for a long while. The only ones that know about it are my mother and sister." "Will they be a problem in giving away our location if people come searching for us?" Athena asked.

Lex shook her head. "I'll call ahead and make sure they don't say anything about the cabin once we get there."

Athena nodded and leaned back in her chair when Lucinda spoke up. "What about the van?" She asked. "It's a rental. We won't be able to take it far." "It'll get us far enough." Lex replied. "We can drop the van off at another rental place and hike the rest of the way to the cabin if we have to." "Will it be a long hike?" At that, Lex didn't answer. She wasn't sure.

Athena stretched her arms in the back. "Why don't we stop at a gas station first and get some supplies? How long will this car ride take?"

"We'll be driving across several states, so quite a few days. Yeah, let's stop at a gas station and get some snacks and water." "We can fold the seats down to make more room in the back while someone goes in." Lucinda suggested. "I'll go in." Athena offered. "I'll go in as well." Lex offered. "Lucinda, can you get the seats or do you want to go in?" "I'll get the seats." She replied.

They drove silently from that point on.

* * *

"That's a lot of money." Lex commented to Athena who stood over the ATM machine.

Athena shrugged. "Cards are traceable. I don't want to use debit cards for the rest of the trip." "Fair point." Lex replied. "In that case, I'll go after you." Athena nodded and collected her wad of cash while Lex stepped up and took out her own.

The girls wondered the store for a while and collected various things.

Athena grabbed a road map of the states and several other supplies like flashlights and first aid kits. Lex went around and collected some snacks and enough water jugs to hold them over until they reached somewhere that had better supplies. Both girls went over their findings together and went around one more time just to be safe. Athena picked up an Axe and a couple pocket knives at the last minute, and Lex picked up a compass since hers broke in the pyramid.

After checking out, the girls took out one last large deposit of money from the ATM just to be safe before leaving.

* * *

Lucinda had dropped all of the seats down with Chopper's help when Athena and Lex came back out.

With more room in the back now, the cloaked predators piled in and took their spots after all of the supplies were strapped down. Lucinda and Athena went in after them and Lex took the driver's seat again.

The yautja still hadn't uncloaked themselves, so when Athena took a seat, she landed in the lap of one of the humanoids. She grunted as she fell, and the arms of her cushion came up and wrapped around her hips. Athena looked back to find Celtic uncloaking himself. "Sorry." She said shyly and made a move to get out of his lap. To her surprise, she felt Celtic's arms tighten around her when she tried to leave. She looked back at him with a raised eyebrow and Celtic handed over the mask for a moment. "More room this way." He clicked. "Oh." Athena said and then handed the mask back with a nod. She turned around and settled herself against his large frame, much to Celtic's inner delight.

Chopper spotted the two of them practically cuddling and decided to do the same.

Lucinda was sitting next to him, so he easily reached over and lifted her up. She squeaked in surprise, but calmed down when she saw that Chopper was just moving her. Her heart thudded in her chest and the beginnings of butterflies crept up in her stomach when he placed her in his lap and hugged her to his chest. Lucinda felt deep purring coming from his chest and instead of soothing her this time, the butterflies increased.

Scar watched all of this happen from the front seat with more than a hint of jealousy.

Turning his eyes from the review mirror, he looked out the window and stared as they passed by weird buildings and structures. He couldn't put Lex in his lap, even if he wanted to. She was navigating the vessel, and one of the biggest rules he had ingrained in him was "don't disturb the navigator while they're working." One wrong slip from the navigator and a whole ship could crash. They didn't want anyone distracting the pilots from their jobs.

Scar assumed the same rule applied even for these types of vessels. Which was why he was surprised when Lex took his hand.

Lex saw Scar's hand resting on the middle arm rest between their two seats. His hand was open and he looked bored. Without really giving it a second thought, she kept her eyes on the road while her hand crept over and slid into his. Lex saw him whip his head around and stare at her from the corner of her eye. She offered him a small grin in return and squeezed his fingers.

Scar hesitated, but he gently squeezed her fingers back. When she squeezed him once again, he decided to keep returning the favor until one of them eventually stopped.

Yeyinde was very observant from the back. His extensive years of hunting have allowed him to pick up on small details. What he saw troubled him. The interactions between his pupils and the ****oomans**** were getting a bit. . .intimate. It conflicted him on what to do. Should he intervene and confront the boys? Or should he keep silent and stay watching? He could just be reading into this too much and the boys were honestly just trying to be friendly to the ****lou-dte kales**** , but. . . what was considered too friendly when it came to interacting with species not of your own?

He decided to keep silent for now until there were more obvious signs to address.

* * *

Miss Martha Woods was busy making herself dinner when her daughter called.

It had been several weeks since she last heard anything from her daughters. It was a normal thing, but for her daughter Alexa, it was understandable. Her job required her to go off the grid sometimes. Her other daughter though was just a brat who forgot to call most days. She learned long ago that no amount of berating would ever fix that girl straight.

Much to her surprise when she looked at the caller ID, it was Alexa calling. She hadn't expected word from her daughter for maybe another month!

She picked up the phone and hesitantly answered it. "Hello?" Something in her gut told her something was wrong. "Mom!" Alexa immediately answered on the other end, voice crackling. ' _She's somewhere that has bad reception._ ' Martha thought. "Alexa, sweetheart!" Her mother exclaimed. "I didn't expect a call from you for a couple more weeks now." "Things got complicated." Her daughter answered. "How so?" Martha asked suspiciously.

Lex bit her lip on the other end. "It's a long story." She replied. "I've got time." Martha responded. "I kind of don't at the moment." Lex answered back.

This set Martha on edge a lot. "Honey, if you're in trouble-" "I'm not! Well. . .Ok, I kind of am, but I'm not in danger!" She said before her mother could freak out. "I just called to tell you that I'm. . .at dad's old spot right now. And I'll be there for a while." Her mother stood up straighter when she heard this. "Alexa, explain now." She demanded. "I can't at the moment, mom." She replied. "I promise I will, but right now I need you to do something for me. If someone asks where I am, just claim you don't know. Or that you thought I was still on a business trip."

Martha was in mother bear mode in that moment. "Alexa Woods, you better-" "I gotta go mom." Her daughter abruptly said. "I promise I'll call back and explain everything." With that, her daughter hung up.

Without missing a beat, Miss Martha Woods grabbed her car keys and dumped her would-be dinner in the trash.

* * *

Lex sighed as she ended the call to her sister, who was much calmer about it than her mother had been.

Her sister was worried, but much more willing to let Lex commit a heist and help with the crime if it came down to it. ' _Is this even considered a crime?_ ' She pondered. She was hiding illegal humanoid aliens and was on the run in case they were being chased. By whom, she didn't know.

Lex turned from the phone and looked around the room.

They had arrived at her cabin, finally. It needed some sprucing, but it was livable. She gave the group a quick tour of the place and designated their rooms for them before calling her family. The trip wasn't easy, and the humanoids were grouchy by the end of it. They weren't used to being in cramped places for long periods of time.

The cabin itself was large; built to hold several families in it.

Her father built this place in case they and any of their extended family needed to go into hiding. He was a retired veteran before he had Alexa and her sister. He enjoyed his privacy, and very much made it private here. Also a slight case of paranoia might have helped urge him to build the house.

He did build a beautiful cabin. . .

Lex suddenly felt a hand on her hip and turned to find no one there. She chuckled as Scar came into view and trilled at her. "Having fun?" She asked. Scar nodded and Lex grinned at him. She chuckled again. "Alright." She stepped aside. "I've got chores to do. Feel free to venture around the house." She offered.

Lex turned and left, but didn't notice Scar follow behind her, once again re-cloaking himself.

He wanted to see what her chores were.

* * *

Chopper looked around his room and decided he didn't like it.

It wasn't ugly or anything, it's just that he wasn't used to sleeping alone. . .yet. He's had the presence of another sleeping with him his whole life. It had either been his gentle mother, who wasn't as aggressive as most females, to the other unblooded boys he had traveled with, or Lucinda, who was surprisingly enjoyable to sleep with. She didn't smell as bad as the other boys. Nor did she accidentally kick him off of the bed like his mother had on occasion. Not that Lucinda had the strength to do that, anyway.

Chopper decided that although the room was temporarily his, he'd rather be in Lucinda's, or have her be in his. He enjoyed her presence too much.

The blooded warrior stood up and exited his room. He crossed the hall and knocked on Lucinda's door. The door opened up and Lucinda stood on the other side, looking up at him. She rose an eyebrow at him standing there. "Chopper." She greeted. "Do you need something?" Chopper trilled at her and picked her up in his arms. She squeaked in protest and he carried her over to the bed. Placing her down, he crawled under the covers and threw the blanket over her as well. Lucinda was staring at him wide eyed when he gestured to himself, her, and then the bed.

Lucinda connected the dots. "You want to sleep with me?" She asked. Chopper nodded at her and Lucinda gave a small chuckle.

"Alright. . .I'll let you. But it's not time to sleep yet. Not my time, anyway." She explained. Chopper nodded again and typed into his gauntlet the best he could with his bad arm. He spoke slowly but clearly. "What. . . . .do. . .we do. . . . . .until. . . .then?" He asked, stretching the muscles deep in his throat to form the words. Lucinda gestured back towards the door. "I'm going to help Lex with whatever she needs done around here. I'll probably be on firewood duty again." She chuckled. Chopper typed some more on his gauntlet. "May. . . .I. . .Help?" Lucinda nodded at him. "If you want to." She confirmed.

Chopper trilled his delight and both chatted for a little while longer before getting up and going to help Lex with her chores.

* * *

Celtic had the same problem as Chopper had. He wasn't used to sleeping alone.

His mother hadn't slept with him as a child much, but sleeping with the other hunter boys was familiar. And sleeping with Athena was. . .wanted. His room felt barren without another presence. He debated on what to do.

He knew what he wanted. He wanted to return to Athena's arms again.

Would she let him? Sure, they shared an intimate moment back on the ship. He could excuse that as him being vulnerable and in pain and she felt like checking up on him and providing comfort. What excuse did he have now? Being lonely didn't seem like enough reason for this time.

His friendship with her was barely being repaired; he didn't want to risk losing it again.

But. . .he really wanted to hold her again, and be held by her. . .

Celtic placed his palms on his double-crested forehead and gave a guttural groan in agitation. His internal debating was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Celtic quickly put on his mask and opened the door. He was expecting one of his own to be on the other side, maybe Yeyinde with how soft the knock was.

Instead, it was the female who was currently taking over his thoughts.

Athena gave a soft smile at him. "Dinner is almost ready." She said. Celtic handed her the mask and waited for her to slip it on before replying. "Thanks. . .do they need any help?" Athena shook her head and handed the mask back. "It should be fine. At least until tomorrow. Then we'll all have to help." Celtic nodded and Athena cocked her head at him. "Do you need help with anything yourself?" She asked in return. Celtic shook his head 'no' and Athena turned to leave.

Celtic's heart hammered in his chest as his body seemed to act on its own. "Athee. . .na. . ." He was getting better at saying her name.

Athena turned and looked back at him and his heart beat faster from her look. "Yes?" For a second, Celtic didn't do anything, almost paralyzed on the spot. Then with an arm he hadn't realized was shaking, he lifted his mask off of his face and handed it over. Athena placed it on and Celtic spoke his request, trying hard not to click his mandibles too fast.

"I'm. . .I'm not used to sleeping alone. . .Can you. . .will you. . .maybe. . .rest with me tonight?"

He had a very hard time looking at her eyes. Especially since he couldn't see her expression at the moment and didn't know how she was taking this. Her hand slowly lifted up and took the mask off. Celtic thought that her hesitant movements meant a rejection was about to happen. He took the mask back and slipped it on before she started speaking.

Athena took a breath. "Yes, I don't mind if you do."

A weight he didn't know he had seemed to lift off of Celtic's shoulders. He almost wanted to shout in victory when he realized she was still talking. "May I ask though, why aren't you used to sleeping alone? Don't you have your own room?" Celtic shook his head and handed the mask back, eager to explain his reasonings.

"Back on our ship, the unblooded all sleep together in the pit. Before that, our mothers usually slept with us until we were old enough to hunt with our fathers." Athena gave the mask back. "Ok. So you've only just now earned the right to have your own space?" Celtic nodded and was about to hand the mask back when she asked another question. "Do your women not hunt as well?"

Celtic handed the mask back, happy to explain some of his culture to her.

"The women can choose to hunt if they wish. Most don't, as hunting is usually done for the honor of gaining trophies. Trophies help the females decide who they wish to mate with, so it's usually the male's job to hunt in order to gain honor and the right to mate." He explained, mandibles making hard clicks. "Females also tend to be more aggressive, so hunting with them can sometimes be more. . .unpredictable. They can lash out easier and that can sometimes lead to trouble with keeping order."

Athena tilted her head and Celtic gave the mask back. "Do they have a hard time following orders?" She asked. She mostly meant it as a joke, but Celtic handed the mask back and answered seriously.

"Yes. With males, our ranking to each other is clear. We are the leaders of our clans and have to earn our spots. Females. . .they can respect the leader, and even follow orders, most of the time. But if a leader steps out of line and disrespects a female, no one is going to stop her if she lashes out. In a sense, both end up being equal in rank. One is just more easy to make agitated than the other. It's a. . .kind of blurred area of topic."

' _At least their females get respect._ ' Athena thought sarcastically in her mind. Before either could continue, Lex called up to them that dinner was ready.

Athena handed the mask back and both went down to eat.

* * *

Yeyinde softly paced his room, almost as gracefully as he would stalk prey.

He had several dilemmas to face. One being the relationship between his students and the _oomans_. The second being the fact that mating season would very, very soon be upon them. That would make the first problem even worse.

He couldn't truly do anything about it.

He had no word back from the main vessel, which worried him greatly. He didn't know how his clan was fairing in the war above the atmosphere. If they needed help, he couldn't get the three others up to aide them. He and the boys were stranded on this planet until someone came to get them.

If they were allowed back on the ship, it would make the first two problems so much simpler. He could just take the boys away before their mating urges got really bad, and they could focus on courting the other women on their planet instead of longing for the _ooman_ ones.

Was the _ooman lou-dte kale_ musk strong enough to attract the boys during the season? Yeyinde didn't know, and he didn't know how he would stop the young warriors if they did decide to mate.

Once a yautja had his eyes set on a certain _lou-dte kale_ , there was almost no stopping them from going after her. Only the female herself could deter him. He had to respect her decision not to mate with him if she so chose, or face her wrath from his continued pursuit.

He hoped it would be the same with the _ooman_ women.

His thoughts were interrupted by calls for dinner. He gladly went down to eat, if only for the distraction, at least.

His students were certainly distracted at dinner.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- ** **ooman**** : human

- ** **lou-dte kale**** : female/ child bearer

 _This chapter almost didn't make it today. I realized yesterday that I hadn't gotten anything done on it. Taking care of a chicken takes up your time, sometimes._

 _Anyways, hope you enjoyed it! Let me know in the comments what you thought of this chapter. I'm going to try and make the chapters longer, mostly to help story progression move faster. I realized I'm on Chapter 40 and still no where near the end. Yikes!_

 _Welp, I hope 40 chapters is worth reading all of this for you._


	41. Plans and Passions

Yeyinde crouched at the top of the tree and stared at the horizon as the sun rose to greet the day.

It had been a week since their arrival and the first signs of frost were appearing on the ground; Yeyinde already felt the shift in his body's hormones like a simple switch. What he dreaded to come was already here, and he wasn't prepared for it.

Mating season. . .

Yautja Prime didn't have a winter like this backwater planet did. It never got cold enough for snow, or even frost. But the temperatures would drop significantly enough that their plants would be affected. When the leaves started to fall and the branches would wither, the excitement in the air would increase tenfold.

Their body's instincts were to mate in the winter so the pups would be born in the spring.

During that mating time, the hormones and pheromones would create a ****h'dui'se**** so intoxicating that it was almost sickeningly thick if it weren't so enjoyable. The younger pups some times had to be sent away for a time until the frenzy calmed down. Even some of the older unblooded have had to be restrained due to their urges getting the best of them. The rules were plain and simple. No unblooded may mate. You had to be worthy to pass on your lineage, and any courting and fornication done before a yautja's ****Chiva**** was swiftly put to an end.

Except Yeyinde couldn't apply those rules here. His pupils were blooded.

Yeyinde looked back over in the direction of the house. With his heat vision, he could spot his pupils and the ****oomans**** from miles away. They were scattered around the building doing various things. In pairs, as usual. His worry would grow every time he'd spot the boys secluding themselves off with one of the ****lou-dte kales****. It wasn't normal yautja behavior to do so.

He hopped down from his tree and stalked through the forest.

He had gone hunting to clear his head. He hadn't caught anything yet, but everyone was waiting on him to bring back breakfast. He had promised that he would. It was just hard to do so when you were having an internal war with yourself.

He didn't know if he could actually stop the boys. He'd feel like a hypocrite if he did. . .but their safety was at risk if they actually coupled with these women. Yeyinde strode through the forest and tried to focus on the task at hand.

He'd have to figure out what to do later.

* * *

Celtic woke up to the feeling of soft yet warm arms wrapped gingerly around his head.

His mandibles lifted up higher in a smile and he buried his face further into the warm flesh beside him. He felt the body beside him shift around until a leg was thrown over his hip and his head was held tighter against her flesh. He unintentionally purred his delight at her cuddling, but at this point, he had stopped trying to keep himself from reacting to her.

He and Athena had been sleeping together for a week now in her room.

The first night was awkward and hard. They kept their distance when they had slipped under the sheets together. Celtic had fallen asleep with the longing to pull her closer to him. To make matters worse, he had woken up with a fit from another nightmare. His mind seemed intent on replaying the scene of his mother throwing him to the mud. He had thrashed around and almost roared out when he woke up. He didn't remember where he was. Then Athena had simply sat up and hugged him and suddenly there was peace again. He calmed down rapidly and she rocked him and rubbed his back in an almost motherly manner.

They had talked for hours after that. Or at least, what felt like hours. Celtic wasn't sure, nor did he care.

All he cared about was that by the end of their talk, Athena now didn't let either of them fall asleep unless one of them was holding the other. Celtic was completely ok with that, and even went out of his way to be the first to cuddle up to her in the bed when the sheets were finally set down over them. Her body heat was addicting, and he could fall asleep in an instant as soon as they had gotten comfortable with each other. He didn't have any nightmares again.

Now he laid with her once more, and had come to a theory that both terrified and excited him.  
He might have started to love her.

Love was a very. . .vague topic among his kind.

There were few stories of yautjans legitimately falling in love. It isn't really a wanted feeling among his kind. Sure there was affection and a desire to mate, but it wasn't love. His kind prided duty and honor above everything else. Love just seemed to get in the way of that. A distraction that was dangerous. Could cause chaos and poor judgement in the wrong moment if the circumstances allowed it.

It wasn't a feeling that was un-permittable, it just wasn't highly encouraged.

Celtic hadn't given it much thought back on their home planet. In fact, thanks to his parents' actions, he hadn't really believed in it. He hadn't believed that it was a real emotion, or that any of his kind were capable of it.

But when Athena had hugged him back on the boat, some small part of him remembered the lessons the ancients had taught him. How even though love wasn't encouraged, you'd be a fool to believe that you were immune to it. It could hit you at random, and you wouldn't even know it until it was too late.

When he was younger, the impression that Celtic got was that love was a nasty disease.

He believed in it was real now. He believed that he had started to genuinely feel something more than comradeship for Athena. But his doubts were holding him back. What if what he was feeling wasn't what he thought it was? What if his current feelings were the same ones he'd feel for any other female of his clan if he decided to mate with them. What if-

Celtic was tired of the what ifs. He wanted answers and he wanted to know for sure what he was feeling.

Maybe he could ask Yeyinde later? The ancient was sure to know something more about the topic that could help him. He has lived long and seen much. His old wisdom must surely have learned to see emotions as plain and simple things.

He decided to ask the ancient later in the day. Right now, he wanted to keep cuddling.

* * *

Lex was busy chopping up vegetables for their breakfast.

' _I'll have to run to the store again soon._ ' She thought to herself dismally. ' _And grab more supplies. . .but we won't be able to take out more money from the ATMs here. . . We'll have to start a garden here. Maybe even collect rain water._ ' She was lost deep in thought when she felt a hand drift up her side. She let out a yelp without meaning to and nearly sliced her own hand as she jumped from the ticklish sensation.

She turned around to find Scar clicking his mandibles in amusement and holding his hands up in a defensive position. He probably suspected that she would take a swing at him with her knife. "Scar!" She shrieked at him. Scar's mandibles clicked more rapidly in laughter before he slipped his mask on and typed into his gauntlet. "You'rrrrree.. . . .eassssy. . . .ttooo. . .gggettt. . ." Lucinda scowled at him. "I am not easy to get." she insisted. Scar lifted his top mandibles up in a mocking grin. "Yyou arrrre." He replied.

Lex rolled her eyes as Scar laughed at her, and handed him the knife. "Here. Make yourself useful and chop these up." She demanded.

When she walked past him, Scar turned and clacked at her curiously. "Isss. . . .sssommetthhinggg. . .wrrronng? . . ." He asked. Lex shook her head at him. "No, I'm just. . .trying to think of what to do here." She said. Scar tilted his head at her and she explained. "We're running out of food, so we're going to have to be more frugal here." Scar still tilted his head at her some more. "Fffrru. . .ggall?" He tried to pronounce. Lex nodded at him. "Yeah. We'll have to plant our own food and maybe get some animals to breed." She explained. Scar looked at her in bewilderment. "Itt'sss. . .wwinnttterrr." He pointed out.

Lex nodded. "I know. But there are ways to grow plants outside of their season."

Scar wondered how that was possible. On his planet, they tried to keep everything in its season as much as possible. The **n'ithya** growers didn't try to grow anything that wouldn't thrive in the current season. And **amedha** was plentiful no matter the season. They had plenty of creatures that thrived in each one.

Lex kept walking away, so Scar quickly cut her plants before following after her.

"Wwwherre. . .arrre. . .wwe. . .ggoinng?" He asked. Lex pointed towards the front door. "I'm going out to the shed to see what tools we have. And then picking a spot that should be good for planting." She explained.

Scar continued to follow after her curiously until they reached another building that was almost as big as the one they were residing in. A set of double doors lay in front of them and Lex swung it open with one throw. Scar stood back as she walked inside and he looked around at the million things scattered in there. Several _ooman_ tools were pinned to the walls. All of them small, and looking like they were meant to fit in hands much smaller than his. Larger machines took up the majority of the space on the floor. Some were even bigger than Lex, and Scar wondered how she could possibly get one of them out of there, much less put it in there to begin with.

"Lex?" He called out. Her name rolled off of his tongue much smoother than other words.

Lex poked her head out from among the pile of objects and waved him over. "Over here." She called. Scar walked in and maneuvered around the space until he found Lex sitting atop another machine that he had no idea what it was for. "Can you help me push this outside?" She asked. Scar bobbed his head in a nod at her and came around to the back of the thing. It had wheels, so he assumed it could roll forward easily.

He shoved at the back of it and Lex turned its steering device in the direction of the shed door until they reached outside.

Lex hopped off and faced him. "Thank you!" She bared her teeth at him. If this had been their first encounter, Scar would have assumed that Lex was challenging him. But he could tell by the corners of her lips that she was smiling at him. He smiled back at her with two raised mandibles and thumped his chest proudly at her. Lex chuckled. "Alright, I'm going to fill this thing up with gas. I'll be right back."

And with that, she disappeared back into the shed.

* * *

"Now. . . . . .come at. . . .me. . . .like. . . .you. . . .mean it. . . ." Chopper ordered.

Lucinda braced her stance and took a running leap that was aimed at his head. She kicked off and felt like she was spinning through the air when a strong pair of arms caught her and flipped her upside down. She squirmed in his hold, which just caused him to chuckle with rapid clicks. ". . . . .Predictable." He didn't say it to be rude, only that she was making her moves too obvious. He could track her easily.

Lucinda huffed and tried to kick him with her foot, but he just caught that with his mouth and tickled her thigh with the tips of his tusks until she was squirming and giggling again.

Chopper had gotten the idea to train her how to fight when he woke up that morning. He remembered that Yeyinde had given him a goal to make her remember what she had done in the pyramid. ' _Maybe if she did some training, it will come back to her._ ' He thought. It was a theory, anyway. A theory that wasn't holding much results.

She was less ferocious and calculated when she wasn't angry.

Chopper set her back down and turned her around to face him. Her face was red and she somehow was glaring at him all while pouting. Chopper tilted his head at her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You. . . .let. . . .your. . . .intentions. . . .show. . .too much." He spoke after typing into his gauntlet. "I. . . .can see. . . .where.. . .you. . . .plan. . .to strike. . . .long. . . .before. . .you . . .even. . .decide. . . .to strike."

Lucinda's shoulder's slumped as she took an agitated sigh. "I'm not exactly a fighter." She softly said.

Her lack of self confidence was obvious, and was almost laughable when Chopper knew what she was really capable of. He leaned forward and bumped his forehead with hers affectionately. Lucinda almost staggered back and stared at him wide eyed as he sat down in front of her and messed with his gauntlet.

"I. . . .want. . . .to. . .show. . . .you. . . . .something." He sounded out.

Lucinda watched with intrigue as a holographic image sprouted from his gauntlet. The pictures were blurry at first, but slowly formed to show that it was them. . .at the pyramid. "Why show me this?" She asked. Chopper held up one finger to silence her and motioned for her to just keep watching. Lucinda did so, though she questioned herself on why.

Once the video was done, she now knew why.

Chopper watched her as her face took on an expression of shock and she tried to take a step backwards, only to trip over her own feet and fall on her rump. Chopper tilted his head at her as she clutched at her hair. "I did that?!" She was breathing hard. Chopper nodded his head and gestured at his spear on the ground. "Honorable. . . . .kill. . . ." He said.

Lucinda couldn't believe it. The woman in the video wasn't human! That was just. . .pure rage.

Lucinda curled her legs up and hugged her knees while looking at the ground. Her bottom lip trembled. "Did I hurt you?" She asked. Chopper blinked in surprise and cocked his head at her. "In. . . .the . . . .pyramid?" He typed. Lucinda nodded her head, so Chopper shook his back. " **M-di**." He said. "No. You. . . .didn't. . . .even. . . .look at. . . .me." He gestured to the bugs that had appeared on the hologram. "You. . . . .only. . . . .attacked. . . .them."

Lucinda sat there for several minutes just thinking.

Chopper just stayed quiet and let her take her time. The spiritual leaders on his planet would often meditate for long hours whenever a large revelation came to them. Everyone was expected to leave them to their selves. He'd apply the same to Lucinda here.

After several long minutes, some of which Chopper began to doze off, Lucinda stood up once again and faced Chopper. Chopper stood up as well and cocked his head at her curiously until she got in a fighting stance. "I'm ready to try again." She declared. Chopper trilled his happiness at her encouraged behavior and took a fighting stance as well.

She was much more ferocious now.

* * *

Night had fallen for the group.

Yeyinde was out, once again hunting on his own. The boys grew worried for his continued absence from the group. The girls were all outside. Lex had explained to them about her garden idea, so they went out to help. The blooded yautja were on their own, and they were bored.

While Scar and Celtic stared through the window for the return of either Yeyinde or the _lou-dte kales_ , Chopper came up behind with a mischievous expression on his face. " **Mei'hsweis**!" He greeted. Celtic and Scar instantly looked at him suspiciously until they saw that he was holding a type of drinking container in his hand. He held it up and grinned victoriously at them. "I do believe we have earned the right to drink to the night." He clicked.

Scar looked at him with unabashed amazement while Celtic rapidly clicked at him. "Where did you get that?!"

Chopper popped the lid and held it up. "I've been saving it for after my Chiva." He explained. "It's the good brew." He promised. He held it tantalizingly out and Scar already grabbed it from his hands.

He took the first swig of **c'nlip**.

* * *

Yeyinde came back late, carrying three deer corpses over his shoulders.

He was exhausted and just wanted to rest for a while, but he had to check up on his pupils first.

He saw the bedroom lights on in the house from a distance and shrugged it off as normal. When he entered the front room, he let the deer corpses fall to the table and looked around. It was pitch dark, but the dark didn't bother his vision. His kind saw well even with little light.

He paused when the _h'dui'se_ of a familiar drink hit his snake-like tongue.

With growing alarm, he followed the _h'dui'se_ until he reached the kitchen where he saw a discarded drinking container lying on the counter. His mandibles opened wide in shock and Yeyinde charged from the room and up the stairs. He slammed open the first bedroom door, which happened to be Athena's.

What he saw paused him in his tracks and his mandibles spread wide in shock.

Celtic had Athena grasped by the hips and was grinding his pelvis hard into her clothed backside. His pupil's mandibles were wrapped around the _ooman'_ s neck and he was giving off deep, vibrating purrs against her. The sides of his mandibles were flushed green, a sign of his drinking. Athena's own cheeks were flushed red as well, but from the scent coming off of her, it wasn't because she was drunk.

"Yeyinde!" She called out, voice sounding surprised. "What in the world is he doing?!" She shouted.

Yeyinde stepped forward and frowned with his two lower mandibles. Even though the scene disgusted him, he had to remain professional. He looked at Athena's wide, confused eyes. "He's trying to get you to mate with him." He said solemnly. Athena openly stared at him in shock and Yeyinde gestured to his pupil behind her. "The mating grind. It's a ritual intended to entice the female into mating with the male." He explained. "It's to help. . .convince her that he would be good to her during mating." The explanation was awkward. "He's courting you."

"This is courting?!" She exclaimed, and suddenly let out a squeak as Celtic jabbed her once again with his wood.

Yeyinde nodded and then Athena had a sudden look of horrified panic on her face. "Yeyinde, go check on the others!" She shouted. "The other two were drunk as well! They dragged us all off when we came back in!" Yeyinde grew alarmed and was about to run off to the others before looking back at her. "What about you?" He asked. Athena shook her head. "I can handle him, just go!"

With a nod at her, Yeyinde dashed from the room and went to save the other girls.

* * *

Lucinda was caught in a very cramped position when Yeyinde burst through the door.

She flung her head up in alarm as the giant of a humanoid looked to be on a war path. When he advanced towards them, she held her finger up and shushed him. "He's sleeping." She cautioned.

Yeyinde stared at the scene, once again shocked but more from relief.

Chopper was curled around Lucinda on the bed and snoring worse than he's ever snored before. The poor _ooman_ was trapped underneath his weight and looked to be almost suffocating under his heavy body. Yeyinde moved forward and helped reposition Chopper so Lucinda could breath again.

"What happened?" He asked. "He didn't try and mate with you, did he?"

Lucinda shook her head. "No." She replied. "He came in drunk, picked me up, and then carried me up here." She moved her head to motion around the room. "When we got in, he just kind of set me on the bed then laid on top of me. Then he fell asleep."

The news relieved Yeyinde immensely and he stood up. "I must check on the others." He said. "I shall come back to help you fully in a moment." Lucinda tried to shrug at him. "Take your time. He's not waking up any time soon."

Yeyinde nodded at her and then left the room again.

* * *

Scar was stroking Lex's thighs with the tips of his claws and she was trying hard not to shudder from it.

When the others had come in drunk, Lex saw Athena and Lucinda get carried upstairs while Scar cornered her in the kitchen. Lex couldn't tell he was drunk at first until she saw the way he was walking. His gait was all wrong and sloppy. When he pinned her up against the counter, she had thought he was going to do something stupid. Instead, he carried her upstairs and was now just slowly dragging his claws over her body in a tantalizing manner.

Lex found it a mild turn on, much to her surprise. The moment was ruined, however, when Yeyinde walked in.

He saw what Scar was doing and gapped at his pupil.

Scar turned and gave his ancient teacher a confused look. His mind was heavily intoxicated and he didn't understand what he had done wrong.

Yeyinde walked forward and gently shoved his student aside while looking at Lex. "Are you unhurt?" He asked. Lex nodded at him and Yeyinde breathed a sigh of relief. "What was he doing?" She demanded. Yeyinde gestured at Scar and explained. "A more subtle form of courtship." He said. "It's a slow enticement to get you to. . .well, I think you can guess."

Lex nodded her understanding and Yeyinde turned to Scar, who had flopped down on the bed during their talking and was now asleep. "Typical." Yeyinde clicked to himself. He turned back to Lex and saw her shaking form. "Will you be fine with him here?" He asked.

Lex gave another nod and Yeyinde took his leave.

* * *

Celtic didn't understand why Athena wasn't giving in to his advances.

The _c'nlip_ had reduced his brain function down to basic primal instincts. Right now, those instincts said it was mating time, and to seek out the best partner for the coupling. Athena had been obvious to him, and he performed as his instincts told him.

When he had her secluded off from the others, he grabbed her by the hips and began to rub his member against her bottom.

It was a promise of what she would receive if she accepted his advances. An attempt to seduce the partner into their primal needs as well. It was a chance to show off his endowment size without fully revealing what the full thing was without his loin cloth.

In his mind, Athena was reciprocating the advances fully. Well, almost. She squirmed in his hold, causing her bottom to rub against him some more. On his planet, if the female didn't like what he offered, she would just stand perfectly still and wait for him to finish his attempts before walking off. Athena was reciprocating, but he couldn't understand why she wasn't moving on to the next part. The female would normally turn around to receive the same treatment to the front once they started grinding back with their bottoms. The smell of her arousal was obvious to him, yet she was holding back. Why? Was he not as enticing as she thought at first?

Moving his claw to hold her front, he pressed her back further against him and started grinding harder.

Athena let out a whimper as she suppressed her instinctual desires to let him have his way with her. Yes, she was turned on by all of this. Her senses heightened immensely when he had started rubbing on her. Her body tingled when he pressed up against her and she wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes off and face him.

But she couldn't. He was drunk.

Of course, there was also the fact that he wasn't her own species either. But her own species was failing her in the courtship department, so why not go for an alien at this point? If humanity was going to be so disappointing when it came to love and lust, might as well move on to the next best thing!

At least, that's what her aroused mind was telling her.

Her logical mind was reminding her that Celtic was drunk, and letting him have his way was wrong. He wasn't able to fully make decisions like this. Not in this state of mind. He was too inebriated to know whether he actually wanted this or not.

She had to stop this before either of them could advance and do something they both would regret.

Celtic felt Athena shift to turn around and he grew beyond excited. She was willing to mate with him fully! His member throbbed with the desire to pull her to the bed, but when she turned around, she grabbed him by the sides of his face and stared into his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

He didn't have his mask on to translate, but in the next instant, he didn't even remember what she said. She leaned her head back as far as it would go and slammed it forward against his forehead. Celtic fell backwards and landed on the bed with a heavy thump. His head hit the wall again and he blacked out.

Athena took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to calm her tingling body down when Yeyinde came back into the room.

He looked at the situation in front of him with shock. "You over took him?" He asked. Athena nodded with a frown. "I'm sorry, I had no choice. He would have done something he would regret, and I didn't want him to feel that." She quickly said. She grew worried that Yeyinde would get offended that she harmed Celtic, but the ancient just shook his head.

"You did the right thing." He simply said.

Athena looked back at the now sleeping Celtic and wondered how things would have happened if she had done the wrong thing.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- **h'dui'se: scent/ musk/ smell**

- **oomans: humans**

- **lou-dte kales: females/ child bearers**

- **n'ithya: ground/earth**

- **amedha: meat**

- **M-di: no**

- **Mei'hsweis: brothers**

- **c'nlip: intoxicating yautja beverage**

- **Chiva: trial**

 _Here ya go you horny bunnies. This honestly went on longer than I expected. Enjoy!_

For those of you reading this on , this chapter probably looks a little weird to you. Sorry. was being a pain and I had to try and find a way around the technical issue. Thank you for reading anyway!


	42. Enter Mom

Scar woke up to the feeling of something strange drifting over his hips and waist.

At first he didn't really pay attention to it. It was a pleasant feeling and he was too comfortable in his bed to really be bothered by it. He let himself purr in delight as the foreign feeling continued. The strange thing drifting over his flesh paused when he started to purr. The sudden loss of the sensation made his mind snap to attention.

Only when the feeling continued did he pop his eyes open and look towards the source.

To his surprise, Lex was sitting on the edge of the bed and had her arm extended towards his torso. With minimal movement, he tilted his head down and looked at what her hand was doing. His eyes widened when he saw that she was drifting her ****ooman**** version of claws across his flesh!

His mind started to over think.

In his culture, this was a form of seduction! A tactic used between two already familiar partners in order to rile the other into an aroused state. Did she know what she was doing?! Maybe this has a different meaning in her culture? Maybe she really was trying to entice him to do the act with her.

Scar shifted and caught her hand before she could even blink.

Lex looked down at him and rose an eyebrow as he trilled his mandibles at her in a rapid manner. "I don't understand you." She reminded. Scar gave a huff and reached over to grab his mask and discarded gauntlet, though he kept a hold of her wrist. When he slipped his gadgets on, he finally let go of her and typed into his gauntlet before addressing her.

"Wwhattt. . . .arrre. . .yyou. . . .ddoinng? . . ." He demanded.

Lex tilted her head at him and rose an eyebrow. "Doing what?" She asked. In all honesty, she forgot that she was stroking his side just moments ago. His hand grabbing hers startled her too much.  
She watched as Scar mimicked what she did and ran his claws gently down his own side. "Oh!" Lex exclaimed, now remembering. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was doing that." She apologized, remembering what Yeyinde said about that the night before. Scar tilted his head at her and quickly typed into his gauntlet. "Wwhy. . . .wwere. . .yyou. . . ddoinng. . .thhatt?" He asked. Lex's cheeks heated up to a subtle red. "Well. . .you were doing that to me last night and Yeyinde explained that it was a form of courtship." She replied, not really answering him why she was doing it.

Scar stared at her for several moments before suddenly sitting up and clacking at her rapidly.

He had momentarily forgotten their language barrier and was more concerned with asking if he had accidentally mated with her. By her confused look, he guessed the issue and quickly began to type in his gauntlet. He was stopped by her hand gently covering his. He looked up at her to find a slightly amused look in her eyes. "Let me guess." She began. "You're asking if we had sex?"

Shocked by her understanding, Scar nodded 'yes' and Lex let out a chuckle.

"No." She replied. "We didn't." She gestured at herself then him. "You came in drunk and started doing the thing with your. . .claws, then Yeyinde came in and stopped you. He shoved you on the bed and you fell asleep while he and I talked. He explained it was a courtship thing to you." She stopped and waited for his reply.

Scar was relieved, but confused.

Why would he tell her it was a courtship action when it was a seduction act between already established partners? ' _I guess courtship is just a softer word for seduction._ ' Scar thought to himself. But it still didn't explain why Yeyinde hadn't explained to her the full meaning behind it though.  
He decided to set that aside and focus an why ****she**** was doing the act now. Especially since she seemed to at least think it was a courtship move.

He typed into his gauntlet quickly before speaking. "Wwhy. . . .ddidd yyou. . .ddo itt. . .iff yyou. . .know itt. . .wwas a. . . ccourrttshhipp. . .accctt?"

"Why did I do it if I knew it was a courtship act?" Lex repeated. Scar nodded and Lex bit her bottom lip before answering. "Honestly, I kind of forgot about that fact when I started doing it." She admitted. Scar tilted his head at her and she continued. "It's not really a courtship thing with humans." She explained. "It's more of an intimacy thing, I guess. We just do it because. . .well, just for the sake of showing affection."

Scar felt a small part of him get disappointed that she hadn't been trying to seduce him. Just a small part.

The intimacy part intrigued him, though. "Innttimmaccy?" He croaked. Lex nodded at him. "Yeah. Just a way to show affection. Since we're friends, I'd show you affection."  
Scar felt another little sting at the 'friends' part. He shook it off and looked her over with a scrutinizing eye. "Arre yyou. . .allrrightt. . . .ffrromm. . .llasstt. . .nnightt?" He asked. Lex nodded and he stood up. "Ggoodd. . ." He gurgled. His stomach rumbled and Lex grinned before standing up herself. "Let's go get breakfast." She said.

Scar nodded and the two went down to eat.

* * *

Lucinda woke up to the feeling of something messing with her hair.

It took her little time to fully wake up, and when she did, she turned her head to look at the source of her hair movement. To her surprise and amusement, Chopper was burying his mandibles in her hair and moving the strands around like he was playing with them. Lucinda gave off a low giggle and Chopper trilled at her before going back to dipping his face in her hair.

"Do I smell nice to you are something?" Lucinda joked as shivers went down her spine.

Chopper felt her shiver and curled around her body tighter, thinking she was growing cold. Even though his natural thermal vision told him that she was anything but cold. She could produce her own body heat. If anything, he was colder than her. His kind didn't have naturally heated bodies, so they had to take their heat from elsewhere.

Right now he wanted to take some heat from her.

Lucinda shivered again as the cuddly humanoid spooned her tiny frame. She couldn't help but think about how uncharacteristic this seemed when he comes from the culture that he does. ' _Then again. There's black sheep in every family._ ' She thought. How Chopper had the heart to kill, she didn't know. She could barely go anywhere without getting a hug or an affectionate bump of bodies from him. It just didn't seem like the two would mix.

Chopper sunk his face into her hair again and continued his amusement.

 _Ooman_ hair fascinated him. It was thinner than their dreads, yet somehow could make a thicker covering for their **syra'ytes** than his dreads did for his. And this same hair covered the entire _ooman_ body. Actually, maybe not the same hair. From his time spent cuddling with Lucinda, the texture of the hair on the rest of her body seemed to be made finer and even softer than the hair on her head.  
He had heard rumors once that _ooman_ hair grew thickest around their most private of areas. He wondered if that was true and if Lucinda would let him see.

Judging by the _ooman's_ insistent need for covering their bodies, probably not.

Lucinda kept shivering as he played with her hair and turned over to face him, stopping him in his actions. Chopper gave a whine of protest, but Lucinda held up a hand and touched his mandibles. He suddenly froze as she ran a finger along the sides of them. When she got to the tusks, she ran her finger along the insides as well.

Now Chopper was the one shivering.

Lucinda watched as he curled his mandibles around and gently grasped her hand between them.  
For a moment, they stared at each other. Chopper's eyes were tinged with something Lucinda couldn't place, but it made her heart speed up. Chopper in return began to grow curious about other things. He wondered how a _ooman_ **lou-dte kale** would feel if they copulated. His curiosity grew stronger as his urges to romp encouraged him to try her.

Back at his home, he had almost mated with another female.

After he had earned his trophies of _ooman_ **th'syras** , he had gotten some attention from the females, which he hadn't all together discouraged. The younger ones had noticed him, anyway. He was never good at keeping some rules, and had began the process of even courting with one. He got caught doing the mating grind, and was severely punished for it.

Cleaning and unclogging the dump drains in the mother ship for a month was definitely not worth trying that again.

But he was blooded now. He had earned the right to court, mate, and have pups with a partner. Maybe he could convince Lucinda to try this with him? He'd have to do his best to be careful and gentle with her though. He knew the ooman's were not as wild and violent as them when it came to sex. Would that make her too scared to try? She was small, would she be afraid that he'd crush her?

Before he could even begin to ask, his stomach let out a gurgle, which caused their moment of staring to stop.

Lucinda let out a giggle. "Hungry?" She asked, patting his stomach. He didn't have his mask on to translate, but he assumed she meant if he was craving food. He was, so he nodded at her and hoped that was the right answer. She uncurled herself from him, despite his reluctance, and stood up.  
"Let's go eat." She offered him a hand up.

Chopper took it but pulled himself up on his own. She lead the way downstairs, hand in his.

* * *

Celtic woke up with a pounding head.

It wasn't a hangover pain. This was a pain you got when you're head's been hit too hard. The back of his was throbbing.

He sat up and cradled his head with his hand, wondering what had happened the night before. Looking to his side, he found Athena sleeping in a very cushioned chair. The large bruise on her forehead alarmed him greatly, making him momentarily forget his own pain. He sprung up from the bed and strode over to her. His hand shot out and cupped the side of her head. Her head was small enough just to fit in his palm alone. He reached up with his thumb and brushed it along the edge of the bruise.

' _What caused this?!_ ' He thought with alarm.

He tried to frantically think of the night before. How could he possibly forget something like this if it hurt Athena? Let's see. . .he was waiting for Yeyinde with Scar. . . .then Chopper came in with some **c'nlip** that he had offered to them. . .oh **m-di**.  
Celtic turned and snatched his helmet that was resting on the night stand. He went through the recordings until he found the time around which he had drunk the _c'nlip_. He played it forward and watched what had happened.

With every passing moment, he grew horrified.

He had tried to mate with her!  
Sure he may have wanted to deep down, but he wasn't ready to do so just yet. . .he wanted to reflect on his feelings first, and then maybe watch for hints if she was feeling the same way. And now he may have just ruined any friendship that they had just formed! On top of that, the bruise on her forehead was caused by her having to bash his own forehead in order to get out of his grasp.  
Deep down, he wondered if that was a sign that she didn't want him.

He didn't get the chance to dwell on the matter further as Athena began to wake up.  
He wanted to hide. Do anything but face her. She'd surely hate him now!

Athena blinked her eyes open and groaned as her forehead throbbed in pain. She remembered what happened the night before, and immediately looked over to where Celtic should have been sleeping. Instead, she found Celtic standing with his mask in his hands and his head hanging down in a droop. She yawned before standing up and walking over to him.

"Hey." She softly said, in case he had a hang over. "You feeling better?"

Celtic suddenly looked up as soon as he heard her voice. He slipped his mask back on and motioned for her to speak again. When she repeated her question, Celtic looked at her incredulously.  
Was he alright?! He tried to copulate with her and she's asking if **he's** alright!?

Celtic handed her the mask and told her just that.

"You're the one who's hurt!" He exclaimed. "I hurt you. . .again." He looked down at the floor in shame, chest hurting as he felt the impact of his actions. "I keep hurting you."  
He didn't realize that his eyes were beginning to sting and swell up. His heart pounded in fear for the lashing he knew he was about to receive from her. If she declared that she never wanted anything to do with him again, he wouldn't blame her. Even if he was silently begging for a miracle right now.

When he felt her hand gently cup his chin, his heart nearly stopped in his chest from shock.

He looked up at her and found her placing the mask back over his face. He was too stunned to move, but when it was fully on, she began to speak.  
"Celtic." The way she said his name sent shivers down his spine. He looked her in the eyes and found none of the hate that he was expecting there. There was just. . . .  
Celtic didn't know what it was he saw in her eyes.

Athena let out a sigh and now cupped his chin and jaw with both of her hands.  
"You were drunk." She said. "I'm not going to hold last night against you at all."

For several seconds, Celtic just stared at her. It was awkward since she couldn't see the expression he was making under the mask. Then his arms shot out before she could blink. They wrapped around her middle and pulled her to his body with an almost painful thud. Athena was momentarily stunned, but quickly shook herself out of it and hugged him back as he took off his mask and buried his face into the crook of her neck like his life depended on it.

Celtic's heart was giving painful thuds of relief in his chest.

He couldn't help himself. He pulled her to him and just pressed her body to his like he couldn't get enough of her. He silently sent a prayer of thanks to his god Paya for this miracle. If Athena had any gods, he sent a prayer of thanks to them as well. He wasn't very religious, even among his own kind.  
But right now, he started to believe that his god was actually listening to him.

Athena rubbed his back and shoulders until the humanoid finally stopped shaking and slipped his mask back on. When he did, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held herself close to him. "So. . .are you alright?" she repeated. "You hit your head on the wall pretty hard when you fell over."

Celtic tilted his head. So that's why he woke up in pain!

Celtic handed her the mask and then gestured to her forehead once she had it on. "I'm fine. I'm more worried about your own injury." He clicked. Athena handed him the mask back and gestured to her bruise. "Yeah, it was the only way I could think of to get you off of me." She explained. "Sorry. Not that I wouldn't want you or anything like that, but while you're drunk-" She stopped herself as she realized that she had just partially admitted that she did indeed, want him.

Celtic stared at her as his heart gave a fluttering feeling in his chest. He did hear her choice of words, and it gave him some hope.

He handed the mask back. "Do you _oomans_ not mate when you've had a drink of pleasure?" He asked curiously. Athena handed the mask back and shook her head. "If both persons are drunk, then it's kind of a grey area. But if one person is drunk, then it's considered. . .well, it's very taboo." She finished.  
She didn't know if his culture had a concept of rape, and didn't know if she could explain it that well to him if he didn't.

Celtic tilted his head curiously at her and handed the mask back. "With us Yautja, the pleasure drink just enhances our desires. Some even believe it makes you braver. If two yautjas are together, and one is bolstered by the drink, it's considered normal if both yautjas mate. As long as the one that is bolstered makes the first advances."

Athena was admittedly uncomfortable with that knowledge.  
She bit her lip and handed the mask back. "So. . ." She began. "If I were the one drunk instead of you. . .would you have mated with me regardless?"

Celtic paused for a moment as he contemplated his answer.

He handed the mask back when he thought about his reply. "With you being drunk, no." He confirmed. "I know your upbringing is different than mine. I did not know until now that you viewed mating under the pleasure drink as wrong. But I would have considered that fact as a possibility and made an effort to resist you until your mind was clear enough to answer me again."

Athena took a sigh of relief and Celtic asked another question. "Why is it considered bad among your kind?"

Athena bit the insides of her cheeks and gave his mask back. "It's bad because with us, we view sex as something. . .almost sacred." She explained. "It's a deep decision and requires your full conscious effort to decide who you want to give your body to. But when you're drunk, you're not really thinking fully. You're not fully able to comprehend what you're about to do, and most of the time, don't even remember that there are consequences to sex if handled poorly." She tried to explain the best she could. "You could end up with a baby that you didn't even want because you weren't fully aware of what you were doing. If you're bigger than your partner, you could end up severely hurting them if they didn't want to have sex, but with your drunk mind, you forced them to unknowingly. Or vice versa. The person who isn't drunk could force you into having sex that you didn't want, because you're not fully there to fight back against them."

Celtic tilted his head and handed her the mask. "I understand the last two reasons, but not the first one. Who doesn't want a pup? Do you not strive to pass on your lineage and honorable name?" He asked.

Athena gave the mask back.  
"We have a lot of humans on our planet." She began. "In fact, most would agree that we've become over populated. And due to over population, there have been laws and strategies placed down to try and reduce that population. In some places, you're only allowed to have one child. In places like where I live, the cost of living is so expensive that you just can't afford to have one unless you have the right career. And even then, it's a lot of stress." She explained.

Celtic was appalled by the one-pup rule.

Only one pup allowed?! His kind strived for at least 80 pups produced by one male. His kind didn't have a high population. Nothing close to the _ooman_ one, anyway. Too many pups died on their Chiva for there to be a population problem. It was encouraged to mate and produce pups as much as possible.

While Celtic was processing this knowledge, Athena had another thought.

She crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow at him. "So." She began. Celtic looked up at her and listened as she spoke some more. "You said your drink increases your desires." Her lips pulled up into a smirk. "Does that mean you desire me now?"

Celtic was stunned into shock as she guessed right. He clicked rapidly at her, forgetting that he had the mask on, not her. His mandibles moved too rapidly even for him to form any coherent language. He saw the amused look in her eyes and his face grew hot in embarrassment.

Athena was trying hard not to giggle, and was saved from her attempts by the yells of Lex and Lucinda downstairs. Breakfast was ready.

She placed a finger up to Celtic's mouth, even though it was covered by his mask. Celtic instantly shut up and stared at her as she spoke. "We'll talk about this later." She promised. "Right now, let's go eat."

And before he could do anything else, Athena skipped out of the room with a happy grin on her face.

* * *

The group was gathered for breakfast when they all heard the front door handle rattle.

Lex instantly shot up from her seat while the predators cloaked themselves. The girls stood up as well to follow Lex to the door when they heard the front door open. The girls held their breath as soft footsteps came closer and closer until a dark skinned woman turned the corner and spotted them.

"Mom?!" Lex exclaimed in shock.

Both parties stared at each other until Lex spoke again. "What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed. Her mother dropped her bag to the floor and folded her arms over her chest. "Did you honestly think I was going to sit still while my daughter was in danger?" She demanded. Lex looked sheepish. "Well, I-" "No." Her mother interrupted. "I wasn't." She marched forward and stood in front of her daughter.

"You better have a good explanation young lad-" Her mother paused as her eyes widened and trained on the lightning bolt scar on her daughter's cheek. "Where did you get that?" She breathed.

Lex frowned. "Ma, I. . .It's hard to explain."

Mrs. Woods narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "Hard to explain? Really? That's what your father said when I asked him about the same mark on his neck."  
The room went dead silent after that. Everyone was in too much shock to move.

After a moment, Lex was the first to break the silence. "Dad had the mark?!"

Her mother nodded at her. "On his neck. It was why he was constantly wearing turtle necks and scarves." She confirmed. Lex stared at her mother. "But why hide it?" She asked. Her mother sighed. "Because he knew that one day you and your sister would ask how he got it. And he didn't want to have to lie to you to protect you." She softly said. Lex gaped at her mother for a moment. "Mom." she breathed. "Do you know how dad got the mark?"

Her mother frowned, the reluctance obvious in her eyes.  
"Honey. . .the same way I'm sure you did." She replied. "You allied with an alien and joined their hunt."

The room was stalk still as everyone, even the cloaked predators who were listening, processed this information.  
Lex broke the silence again.

"I'm surprised you believed him." She softly said. Her mother gave a chuckle that was laced with contempt. "I didn't at first." She admitted. "He only admitted this to me after our marriage. And when he did, I almost considered divorcing him in case he was actually crazy."

Martha reached up and subconsciously played with the locket that hung from her neck.

"But then he showed me pictures that he had kept secret." She went on. "Keep in mind, we didn't have photoshop in our day." She said. "So I didn't believe the photo was made up. After he showed me the photos, he then brought out. . .other things." Lex frowned at her mother. "What other things?" She asked.

Her mother frowned and reached into her bag. She pulled out one of the retractable spears that the predators all seemed to carry. It had a clawed finger and tail tip of one of the black bugs hanging like decoration from one end. Foreign symbols were etched into the shaft, circling the entire spear.

Lex gasped and her mother pulled out another object. A photo of her father. . .and another predator.  
The thing looked old. Not as old as Yeyinde though. One side of its face almost looked melted like it had acid thrown at it.

"THAT'S WOLF!" Chopper suddenly roared out in loud clicks, showing his unabashed excitement.

Martha grew startled and dropped the photo and spear. She looked towards the sound and the girls all paled when they heard the noise too. Lex's mother looked at her daughter sternly. "Alexa-" "Mom." Lex interrupted with a sheepish smile. "Meet the aliens."

Her mother nearly passed out when the predators uncloaked themselves.

* * *

On a ship thousands of miles out in space, a war raged on.  
Two clans battled each other. One was invading the other.

One of three elders was dead.

 **Dahdtoudi** lay at the feet of two other of his elders. Both elders mourned the third's death briefly before surging back into battle. They would not let his death be in vain.  
The war waged for several days, with both sides being severely depleted.

At some point, a temporary truce was called.

Both sides went back to their respective ships in order to gather themselves and take count of their supplies. It was a dismal view.

The last two elders discussed what to do.

"We need Yeyinde and the boys back up here to fight!" **Guan-thwei** pleaded. "They must be healed by now!"

" **Sei-i** " **Bakuub** agreed. "But first, we need to find where they are." "What do you mean?" Guan-thwei clicked.  
Bakuub pointed at the holographic map in front of them. "They are no longer in the drop off zone." He clacked. "They're too far away for our scanners to detect now."

Guan-thwei slammed his fists on the table. "We have to find them!"  
"We will." Bakuub promised. "First, let's start moving this ship around this planet. The scanners need to be in range first."

Guan-thwei nodded and went to warn the others of their departure.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- **ooman: human**

- **syra'ytes: heads**

- **lou-dte kale: female/ child bearer**

- **th'syras: skulls**

- **c'nlip: intoxicating yautja beverage**

- **Dahdtoudi: little knife**

- **Sei-i: yes/ I agree**

- **Guan-thwei** : **Night blood**

- **Bakuub: Straight Spear**

 _-_ **m-di: no**

 _Another long chapter, dun dun duuuuh!_

 _Also, I am expecting all of the friendzone jokes about Scar now. Please deliver._

 _Hope you all enjoyed and see you all next chapter!_


	43. When Calls the Heart

"Mom?" Lex asked as she witnessed her mother freeze up.

Athena stepped forward and examined the woman, who didn't seem to be responding to anything around her now. She frowned. "I think she's going into shock." She declared as she grabbed the woman's wrist and checked her pulse. The group all frowned at the scene as Athena now tended to the paralyzed woman. "I think you all should leave the room for right now." Athena announced. "Even you Lex."

"But she's my mother!" Lex protested.

"I know." Athena replied sympathetically. "But right now, she needs space." She thought for a moment before continuing. "Why don't you make her some breakfast when she comes out of her shock? Do you know any of her comfort foods?" "I do." Lex replied while standing up. Athena nodded. "Make her something that'll soothe her nerves. Especially since we'll have to explain everything to her."

"I will." Lex promised and moved back into the kitchen, Scar following her.

Athena turned to the rest with a frown. "Sorry guys." She said. "She just needs some time to herself right now." "Understandable." Yeyinde inclined his head to her. "I shall be outside." He clicked to his pupils before leaving. Celtic and Chopper looked at each other with worry at their ancient's attitude when Lucinda stood up and stretched. "I'm going to go read for a while." She declared before looking at Chopper. "Care to join me?"

The yautja nodded and followed her up the stairs, leaving Celtic behind. He was reluctant to go, but knew Athena needed her space to perform her task at hand.

With drooping mandibles, he turned and went up the stairs as well.

* * *

"Is he stable?"

"Barely. The stabs he received were fatal. Someone found him in the nick of time." "When will he be conscious again?" "Who's to say? Whenever his wounds heal up and he can be off the medicine, probably."

Paul lay in a hospital bed, cords attached to nearly every part of his torso and arms. Monitors beeped and clicked both rapidly and slowly around him. The best money and health insurance could buy.

Two people stood beside his bed. A woman, who wore the standard uniform of a doctor, and a man in black professional dress clothes.

The doctor turned to the man and rose an eyebrow. "May I ask why you're so interested in his recovery? You're not related to him, are you?" The man barely shook his head. "Business partners." He replied. It technically wasn't a lie. "He has no immediate relatives. His health and financial well-being are under my care for the moment." "I see." The doctor replied. "May I ask you for your name?" The man chuckled. "You may call me **Mandus**." He responded. " **Mandus Fonteign**." "That's a very interesting name." "I'm an interesting guy." He joked with a charming smile. The doctor gave a weak chuckle. "Well Mandus." She said. "I'll let you stay and visit a little while longer. Visiting hours are over at 8." "Thank you." Mandus replied.

The doctor nodded and left while Mandus turned to the patient in the bed, smile gone.

Reaching down and lifting his briefcase onto a nearby table, he flipped it open and searched the contents inside briefly before grabbing what he needed. Inside were several documents, all of importants. He also held the black alien claw he had swiped off of the patient while comatose, as well as captain Leighton's recorder. It held the audio record of Paul's confrontation with the woman named Athena, and the plans he had of dragging her to jail.

Mandus wasn't interested in that though. He was more concerned with the thin needle full of untraceable serum. Pulling it out, he went over to Paul's IV bags.

"Sorry mister Weyland." Mandus said. "But I can't have your petty rivalry with the woman interfere with my plans and work."  
He stabbed the top of the IV bag, right in one of the folds, and pushed the serum into the bag. It dripped from the needle and mixed with the fluids already there, swirling around until it was all the same color again.

Mandus returned the needle to his briefcase and departed the room while Paul's heart and brain functions slowed down until they would come to a stop hours later.

The big players had now entered the game.

* * *

Chopper found Celtic standing broodily in the hallway when he exited Lucinda's room.

Lucinda had picked up the task of reading some books about agriculture and farming. If they were going to be there long term, they had to know what to do.  
Meanwhile, Chopper had picked up various books and had begun to read them at random. The best he could read with his translator, anyway. He had picked up a book called 'Twilight' and had begun to read that. He stopped halfway through when he decided that the pale **ooman** male in there reminded him too much of Celtic some times.

He had left the room to go find something to snack on when he found Celtic pacing the hallway in front of Athena's door, lost in thought.

Chopper had never seen Celtic act this way. Then again, he had been acting strangely for the past couple of sun cycles now. He didn't appear to be as focused as he usually was.  
And Chopper thought he knew why.

He approached his **Chiva** brother and tapped him on the shoulder.

Celtic whirled around and nearly punched Chopper in his shock. Chopper danced a step backwards reflexively and missed the blow that was aimed at his gut. He smirked amusingly at Celtic while the yautja took deep breaths. "I could have **mar'ct** you." He clicked in annoyance. Chopper rolled his eyes. "You're not that strong. Also, you weren't even focused." He trilled back. Celtic looked ready to protest, but Chopper cut him off. "What are you thinking about?" He questioned.

Celtic turned his head away, not wanting to answer. "It's none of your concern." He replied defensively.

Chopper smirked, and had to tighten his mandibles in order not to click them rapidly in a chuckle. He shook his head at Celtic. "Would a certain _ooman_ **lou-dte kale** be on your mind?" Celtic suddenly tensed up and looked at Chopper warningly, who only smirked and folded his arms in return. When Celtic couldn't reply back immediately, he sighed. "Is it that obvious?" He pathetically clicked. Chopper gave one nod of his head. "You've been more absent than normal. And every time you look at her, it shows in your eyes." Chopper clacked. "You love her."

Celtic gave a sudden jolt in shock, both at how easily Chopper could figure that out and at the fact that someone else thought he was in love as well.

He scowled at Chopper. "Like you would know what love is." He sneered. Chopper's lower mandibles drooped into a frown at his response. "I would, actually." He replied. "Have you forgotten my parents? One of the few yautjans that became life mates only for each other." He went on. "I grew up with that. I've seen how they treat each other verses other partners."

Now Celtic frowned.

He had completely forgotten that Chopper had come from a singular yautjan pair. Having multiple mates was normal in their culture, but few chose to abandon that practice and only focus on one mate. The reasons for this were few, the major one being love, or just not wanting to breed a lot of pups. Chopper's parents were the former reason.

He had completely forgotten that Chopper could possibly know what love was, not just Yeyinde!

He wanted to smack himself, but Chopper stopped his thoughts. "Have you expressed your desires to her yet?" Celtic shook his head. "I don't even know where to begin." He replied with soft clicks. "She's an ooman, I'm a yautja. How could I possibly hope to go any further with her with that reason being in our way?" Chopper shrugged at him. "I'm not going to let that stop me from mating with Lucinda." He stated. Celtic suddenly jolted at this news. "You're actually going to-" Chopper nodded, interrupting him. "I haven't asked her yet, but if she **sei-i**. . .then I'm going to." Celtic stared at him. "What about raising pups? And Yeyinde-" "I don't care about that." Chopper interrupted.

Celtic waited for Chopper to continue.

Chopper made a dismissive gesture at Celtic. "Having a lot of pups or even any isn't important." He explained. "I grew up with few siblings. The importance of having a lot of pups seemed like a waste to me when my few **mei'hsweis** and **mei-jadhis** were all I needed. It all seemed. . . pointless to strive to have that many pups when so many would just die in their _Chivas_. Me and my siblings all survived our _Chivas_ accept for one. Losing one was bad enough on my family. I don't know how anyone can handle losing several."

Celtic's mandibles drooped in a frown. "What about Yeyinde?" He clicked. "Do you not fear what he will do?"  
Chopper once again shook his head. "I do not plan to make it public." He admitted. "But I am blooded now and have earned the right to mate. I have earned the right to decide if I want to raise pups or not. I suffer from no genetic transgressions. Yeyinde cannot take that choice from me. Nothing about this truly goes against our code."

Celtic was shocked as Chopper clicked in amusement. "I know he wont be happy. But I have chosen Lucinda as long as she will choose me."

"So. . .you love her. . .as I love Athena?" Celtic hesitantly asked, hardly believing that more than one of his kind could possibly be in love at the same time. But Chopper nodded at him, confirming that he did. "How did you know?" Celtic asked. Chopper clicked his mandibles in a chuckle. "It's hard to explain." He replied. "But being around her feels more right than being around anyone else. Even the thought of mating another _lou-dte kale_ isn't that entertaining to me anymore."

Celtic had to agree with that thought. Being around Athena felt better than anything else at the moment.

Chopper gave him a friendly shake of his shoulder before giving a yautjan chuckle again. "I suggest you make this known to her soon. You don't know when you'll get a chance again."

And with that, Chopper left to go back to his original task.

* * *

Scar was curious about the _lou-dte kale_ that birthed Lex.

The two seemed to have an intimate relationship. Something yautjan mothers and their pups didn't quite have in their later years of life. Their mothers cared for them and nurtured them as pups, but once they started the more intense part of their training, the relationship slowly grew more distant. You were expected to do a lot more things on your own then, and the mother usually had more pups to look after rather than her older children.

But Lex's mother seemed to care for her deeply.

Once she had come out of her 'shock', she began to scold Lex, but it wasn't out of anger. Scar could see that her mother had been worried over her daughter for some reason. He had his mask on to translate, but they were talking so fast that following the conversation was near impossible.

It was still interesting to see how they interacted.

"Young lady!" Martha seethed at her daughter. "You're grounded!" "I don't even live with you anymore!" Lex exclaimed. Martha shook her head. "You're still grounded." Lex was beginning to wish that Athena hadn't left the room. She held her hands out to her mother in a peaceful gesture. "Mom, I promise I'm alright." Martha frowned and took her daughter's hand. "Hun, it's hard to believe that when you're on the run from. . .who are you on the run from?" She suddenly demanded. Lex sighed. "Would you like me to explain everything to you?" She asked her mother.

Martha nodded and Lex complied. She explained everything from when she got the job offer from Weyland to when they had made their daring escape off of the Piper Maru. Her mother remained silent the entire time, taking it all in. Lex was grateful for that. She hated being interrupted, especially when explaining something. Sadly, her mother had a habit sometimes of not letting people get their full say out.

But only sometimes. Right now, she let her daughter speak.

When Lex was finished, Martha put a hand to her face and rubber her forehead like she had a headache. Lex bit her lip and waited for her mother to say anything on what she had just told her. For several minutes there was silence before her mother sat up straighter. "Sweetie." She said. "Be honest with me." She paused before taking a breath and continuing. "Are you alright? And I mean truly alright. Not just physically, but mentally as well."

Lex paused to think before answering.

"I'm physically fine." She replied slowly. "Mentally. . .I don't know." She admitted. "We've been on the go non-stop and I haven't really gotten a moment to sit down and process all of this. I. . .haven't thought about that."  
Her mother nodded like she suspected as much. She squeezed her daughter's hand before speaking. "Your father used to wake up from nightmares." She said. "He'd thrash around in bed and has nearly knocked me off with his kicking several times." At Lex's concerned look, her mother chuckled. "It wasn't on purpose, but he did feel guilty about it afterwards. But what I'm saying is, I want you to take a moment and process all of this. Go somewhere else on your own and let yourself think. Your father didn't, and it came back to bite him several times. He didn't allow himself to slow down because he was too afraid of what he'd have to think about if he did."  
Lex frowned when she heard this. "Is that the real reason why he climbed the mountain even with a broken leg? He didn't want to slow down?" Her mother frowned back but her eyes looked uncertain. "I'll admit-" She replied. "I thought of that too, but I'm not sure. Your father had a stubborn streak even before he had met those aliens. When he was younger, he once played a soccer game with a broken toe and didn't tell anyone. He almost had to have that amputated."

Lex gave a chuckle, loving that she was hearing stories of her dad. Martha chuckled as well for a moment before getting serious again.

"There is one other thing that's bothering me." She said. Lex listened intently and Martha subtly inclined her head towards Scar. "You're not. . .you now. . .with any of them, are you?" Lex looked horrified, though her heart gave a guilty stutter. "Mom, no!" She exclaimed. She ignored how Scar visibly flinched in the background. "We're just. . .comrades." She finalized. Her mother gave a sigh of relief. "Good." She said. "I'd still love you even if you were, but-" "Mom!" "Fine, fine." Her mother chuckled before standing up. "I think I'll run to the town and buy you some supplies. Especially if you plan to build a garden to sustain yourselves out here." Lex frowned at her mother. "You don't have to do that." "Nonsense." Her mother dismissed. "Your my daughter and I've always spoiled you."

Lex laughed and stood up to give her mother a hug goodbye while Scar silently frowned at what he had heard.

* * *

Yeyinde was once again hunting, now a habit he's been doing purely to clear his head.

Yet another _ooman_ new of their existence. The clan would not only disapprove of this, but they'd demand he set things right. Their existence was supposed to remain a secret as much as possible. Alliance-like interactions with other sentient beings were supposed to be kept minimal. Yet here they were, without options until their clan arrived.

It was all giving him a head ache.

He'd just have to deal with it. There was no point in worrying about it now. The mother of one of the marked _oomans_ new of them before she'd even met him and his pupils. It wasn't like it was his fault. In fact, Wolf had to answer for this happening. He had met the father of Lex and hadn't even told the tale to anyone.

' _How did Wolf meet him?_ ' Yeyinde wondered.

He gave a sigh of defeat. He'd have to ask Wolf about this when he got back to their planet. The solitary hunter lived on the edge of their village, away from the clan. An anti-social hunter who preferred to hunt with no one.  
And was a highly respected hunter at that.  
Yeyinde turned back towards the _ooman_ building they called 'house'. He'd have to figure this all out later when their pack returned for them.

He was starting to miss home.

* * *

Night had fallen when Celtic returned to his and Athena's shared room.

He had spent the majority of the day training with his _Chiva mei'hsweis_ and Yeyinde after the incident at breakfast. When Yeyinde returned, he had gathered them all outside and had them clear an area for practice while he watched and evaluated their tactics. The _lou-dte kales_ had gone off and done their own thing.

Needless to say, he was tired.

He wanted to sleep, but when he heard Athena's soft voice on the other side, his fatigue turned into restlessness. She was humming to herself, and Chopper's words came back to him earlier. He had to let her know, and let her know soon.

Grasping his courage, he opened the door and stepped inside.

Athena was pulling her pajama shirt down just as he came in. She yelped when she saw him as she was changing, but then let out a chuckle. "Ready for bed?" She asked. He nodded at her and she grinned back. "I'll join you in a minute, let me go brush my teeth."

She turned and strode towards the bathroom. The side of her face that had her burn mark faced him.

Celtic realized something. He had to do something about that burn mark first. He couldn't get it off of her, it had formed into a scar by now. But the significance of it, he had to do something. He had to put the issue of her marking to a final **bpi-de**.  
He had to re-mark her, and this time do it with gentleness that he didn't use before.

When Athena left the bathroom, she saw that Celtic looked troubled. She wasn't an expert on how to read their facial expressions, but his eyes gave it away. She could always rely on his eyes to tell her what he was expressing.

"Celtic." She called his name. The humanoid looked up at her before slipping on his mask and motioning for her to continue.  
"What's wrong?" She asked.

Celtic's lower mandibles drooped in a frown, but he slipped the mask off and handed it to her before deciding how he would ask his question. Clenching a fist at his side, he pressed on. "Athena." He clicked. "I understand if you refuse my request, but-" He took a breath. "I would. . .I would like to mark you again, and this time, I'd like to do it right." He looked up at her eyes, though he couldn't see them with the mask on. For several seconds, she didn't respond at all and Celtic assumed she was thinking about his request.

When she finally did take off the mask and hand it back, she kept her eyes hidden and trained somewhere else so he couldn't read her expression.

His worry about her response began to grow when she finally spoke. "You promise to be gentle this time?" Her voice was so quiet his translator could barely pick up her words. Celtic handed the mask back and slowly nodded his head. " _Sei-i._ " He responded. "I promise to do it right this time."

Athena's lips twitched into a small smile behind his mask before she gave it back. "Then you may mark me again."

Celtic wanted to hug her in his excitement, but held the wanting back. He had to show that he was completely serious about this.  
Reaching down, he pulled off the leg of the facehugger he still kept strapped to his belt. With his talon, he slit a cut in the base of the leg once more, but curled the leg around so the smaller tip would be dipped in the newly exposed blood.  
Reaching up with one hand, he grasped Athena's chin firmly, but not enough to cause pain. He looked at her eyes one last time. She gave him a reassuring smile and nodded for him to continue.

With bated breath, Celtic brought the leg tip up to her unmarred cheek once more.

Athena flinched in pain as the object made contact, but she didn't not try to struggle out of his hold like last time. She forced herself to hold still, and Celtic tried to be both fast and gentle with the marking. It didn't actually take long, but it felt like a long time before he finally stopped.

Once finished, Celtic took off his mask and both looked each other in the eye.

Something felt. . .whole again. The obstacle in both of their paths was finally removed. A healing affect entered both of them, and the pains of the past events didn't hurt any longer.  
Something else happened as well.

After their moment of feeling healed, their gazing in each other's eyes began to feel. . .charged.

Celtic felt a heat creep into his body and move towards his lower regions. Athena felt it in herself as well.  
With unspoken words, their heads began to draw closer to each other. Neither fully knew what they were going to do once their faces met until it happened.  
An inch away from each other, both closed their eyes and leaned in.

Athena knew he didn't have lips to kiss back with, but that didn't stop her. Celtic knew she didn't have mandibles, and yet that didn't stop him. Her lips met his enclosed mandibles and a kiss from both species was shared in their own different ways.  
Their heat grew and a hunger manifested itself in both of them. A hunger they both responded to at once.

Celtic's talloned hands shot out and grasped her waist while Athena leaned up and began kissing the rest of his face. One of her own hands reached around and grasped one of his dreadlocks. With a gasp of surprise, Celtic flipped the pair of them over so she was laying on the bed and he was positioned above her tingling body.

With a dominating roar, he descended to her.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- **ooman** : human

- **Chiva** : trial

- **mar'ct** : killing/ killed

- **lou-dte kale** : female/ child bearer

- **sei-i** : yes

- **mei'hsweis** : brothers

- **mei-jadhis** : sisters

- **bpi-de** : end

 _So a couple of things!_

 _I am sorry this is late. Last week got piled up to the point that I didn't get a chance to update this story until now. I apologize for that._

 _Second thing, if you recognize the name "Mandus" and "Fonteign", then you're probably awesome. There's a show on youtube called "Satellite City", and I chose those names in honor of that show. It's a combination of two character's names in it. I highly recommend you check it out._

 _Thirdly, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and didn't find it too mushy. I'll admit I'm hesitant to approach the topic of two different species and cultures when it comes to topics like love and emotions. I'm afraid people might find it too cringey._

 _Let me know what you think in the comments below (or in the reply section if you're reading this on .)_

 _Thank you all for reading!_


	44. Not the First Time

It was the chirping of birds that woke Celtic up.

His acute hearing allowed even the smallest sounds to disturb his slumber. He didn't wake up all at once though. His mind was foggy and cloudy, trying to remember what had happened the night before.  
As he slowly came to, a body he hadn't realized was tucked against him shifted around. A rounded bottom accidentally brushed against his loins and that's when he remembered.

He and Athena had mated.

Blinking an eye open, he looked down to find her back to him, but she had tucked herself against his body and had positioned her head underneath his chin while they slept. He purred in delight at the fact that she had staid with him in their sleeping state. Lifting the blankets a little, he clicked in approval at passion marks he had left on her body. Turns out Athena liked it when he bit her. Not hard enough to break skin, but definitely firm enough to establish dominance. He left a trail of bite marks down her spine area until it reached her bottom, where the marks diverged into two paths down those cheeks.  
He might have gotten a little ****too**** rough with her on her bottom. She seemed to enjoy it anyway.

To his delight, she had left her own marks on him as well during their copulation.

Although she wasn't strong enough to make a lot of damage, she did scratch up his back a bit. Her ****ooman**** claws racking down his back while they had joined together had turned him on more than anything. Yautjan sex was aggressive by nature, so any damage she could do to him while they coupled was gladly welcomed. Though her attempts at biting his skin was more cute than anything painful and euphoric.

He reached a hand out and rubbed her back in slow circles before she started making tiny grunts to signal that she was beginning to wake up.

He couldn't help but smile with his two top mandibles when she turned over to face him. Much to his delight, she smiled back. "Good morning." She yawned. Celtic reached over and grabbed the mask and slipped it on himself before motioning for her to repeat what she had said. Athena giggled and cupped his chin with her hand. "Good morning." She said again. "Did you sleep good?"

Celtic trilled at her before slipping the mask over her face. "More than good." He replied with happy clicks. "I've never slept that peacefully in my life."

Athena tilted her head and Celtic could hear her laugh behind the mask before she handed it back to him. "I would assume you'd sleep well after what we did." She joked. Celtic clicked his mandibles in a chuckle before giving her the mask and nuzzling her cheek. "Are you unharmed?" He asked. Even though he was sure they had felt nothing but bliss the night before, he still had to ask. Athena gave the mask back. "I may have a hard time walking for the day." She admitted. "But in a good way."

Celtic tilted his head at her and Athena stretched her arms above her head with another yawn. "You hungry?" She asked as she sat up.

Celtic unashamedly watched her milk glands swing and bounce a little as she moved. He was hungry alright, but not for food at that moment. Before he could suggest another round to her, she stood up from the bed.

As soon as she did stand, her legs trembled and she yelped as she collapsed to the floor.

Celtic made a noise of concern while Athena clung to the bedframe and tried to stand up again. She gave a shy chuckle as she looked at Celtic. "Umm, I wasn't kidding about the not walking thing." Her face heated up red with embarrassment but the intense stare from Celtic made her face heat up even more. "I, uhh. . .I could use some help getting back into bed." She bit her lip without looking at him.

Celtic, with more than a hint of amusement, stood up from the bed and cockily stood over her, ego flaring. Her on her knees before him because of how well he had performed the night before was more than enough to stroke his pride.

It stroked something else in him too.

He bent down and picked her up easily while holding her close. He clicked at her, but forgot that he had the mask on as she rose an eyebrow at him. Celtic quickly slipped it on her before nuzzling her face again, but this time a hint of seduction was hidden in the act. "You know-" He purred. "-I think I've already decided what my next meal is going to be." He looked her in the eyes and chuckled at how her face heated up with his implications. He reached a claw up and stroked her side. She shivered. "So if you don't mind-" He continued. "-I'd like to eat."

Athena gave him a shrewd look before shaking her head and placing the mask back on his face. She grinned devilishly at him. "Then you better eat before your meal gets cold." She flirted back.

With a wolfish howl of triumph, he pinned her to the bed once more.

* * *

Breakfast was awkward that morning.  
Athena and Celtic were absent and the whole group knew why.

Last night's sounds of a pounding bedframe and the howls of ecstasy from both Celtic and Athena had lasted an hour before the two had finally settled down for the night.  
Chopper was mentally laughing at how quickly Celtic had succumbed to Athena where as Scar was pissed at Celtic's hypocrisy and the fact that he had gotten no sleep from the horrors he had heard coming from the room next door. The sounds he heard coming from Athena made him wonder if Lex would possibly sound similar if their relationship were more favorable.

Both boys looked towards Yeyinde at the table only to find the ancient visibly tired and visibly pissed.  
Looks like he had gotten no sleep as well.

The girls just looked uncomfortable.

Both Lex and Lucinda were busily keeping their heads down and drinking out of mugs that had long since been emptied out. They made no eye contact with each other or the humanoids around them. Not only were they disturbed from hearing their friend have sex next door, they were also thinking about their own situations with their humanoids. Lucinda wondered if she would ever get that far with Chopper. Their relationship was so cuddly and cutesy that she had low hopes of ever achieving something a little more passionate with him.  
Lex on the other hand was just barely coming to grips with the possibility that a relationship other than a platonic one was possible with these humanoids. The idea of possibly having a romantic relationship with Scar was both terrifying and exciting at the same time.

Suddenly, when the familiar pounding and scraping noise started back up again, the group let out a collective groan of annoyance.

"They can't take this outside?!" Chopper grumbled. Yeyinde gave him a sideways glare for the suggestion, but Scar was silently agreeing with him. They had lost enough sleep as it is, and now their appetites for the morning were ruined. Lucinda stood up with her plate and walked to the kitchen, clearly finished. Chopper stood up as well to follow her, but a vicious hand on his shoulder stopped him. Yeyinde shoved him back down to his seat and for once Chopper obeyed without question. He had never seen the ancient look so angry before, and didn't want to push the limits this time.

Lex got up and left as well, and one look from Yeyinde kept Scar in his place. He mostly just wanted an excuse to get further away from the noise his friend was creating up stairs, but decided suffering the noise was better than receiving Yeyinde's wrath.

Another hour passed when the noise finally stopped.

The three turned towards the stairs as they heard two pairs of steps making their way down. Yeyinde's look was stony and the boys looked over to find Lex and Lucinda peeking around the corner as well.  
The group watched as Celtic and Athena walked down the stairs together.

For a moment, the girls had thought Athena had broken a leg or something similar. She was leaning all of her weight against Celtic for support and walked with a limp. Celtic had a hand wrapped around her waist and was gripping her hip to help keep her up as he carefully got them both down the stairs.

When they reached the bottom, they both looked up.

Celtic immediately made eye contact with Yeyinde and the ancient stood up faster than Celtic has ever seen him move. "Outside, now." He clicked so darkly even Athena could tell something was wrong. Then the ancient looked at Chopper and Scar and pointed towards the door. "Both of you as well." Soundlessly, the two got up and went outside while Yeyinde gave Celtic a pointed look, waiting for him as well. Celtic was hesitant to follow, not wanting to leave Athena's side. But a hand on his back made him look at her and she nodded her head at him while holding on to the stair railing. "Go. I'll be fine." She said.

Frowning, Celtic gave her hand a squeeze before letting go and following his ancient leader out to the yard.

As soon as the cost was clear, Lucinda and Lex dashed forward and grasped their friend's hands and helped her walk to the table. The concern was immediate. "Are you alright?!" Lucinda asked frantically. To their amazement, Athena smiled at them and her whole body seemed to glow up. "More than alright." She replied, mimicking Celtic's words from earlier. The girls looked at her with stunned expressions. Lex was the first to notice the new hunter's mark on her cheek. "He re-marked you?!" She exclaimed. Lucinda noticed it as well and stared as Athena nodded. "Well, he left more than one mark on me." She said as if implying that their activities the night before had been a secret.

Lex and Lucinda felt their faces heating up while Athena tried to stand. "Is their any breakfast left?" She asked as she used her chair for balance.

"Yeah, but I can get you some." Lucinda offered. Athena gave her a nod of thanks and Lucinda scampered off to the kitchen to grab her a plate. Lex took a seat next to Athena and bit her lip. "So." She began. Athena rose an eyebrow. "So?" She replied. Lex sighed. "So, how. . .how was it?" She asked, face burning again. She hadn't meant to ask that, but she didn't know what else to say! But Athena responded with a laugh and a shake of her head. "Surprisingly good for my first time." She said.

"I forgot you were a virgin!" Lucinda exclaimed as she came back into the room and plopped a plate full of food in front of Athena.

"Thanks." Athena said as she took a bite. Lucinda took a seat and both girls waited patiently for Athena to eat a little more before continuing their questions. "Did he hurt you?" Lucinda asked once Athena had swallowed. Athena shook her head and wiped her lips with a napkin. "No more than a normal session with a first timer would." She explained. She was about to take another bite when Lex interrupted. "But you did it twice. And you're having a hard time walking." She pointed out. Athena grinned sheepishly. "I'm just a bit achy. I just used a bunch of muscles I had never used before."

Athena sat back in her seat and looked at them both. "What's really disturbing you both?" She asked.

Lex and Lucinda took a moment to look thoughtful while Athena took another bite. Finally, Lucinda spoke. "Did you both do it just for sex, or. . .did you do it because you both felt something?" Athena gave her a look she couldn't identify before wiping her mouth once more. "We felt something." She finally said. "Back on the boat, I would visit him in the cell after Paul locked him up. We kind of connected then." She pointed at her cheek that had her new mark on it. "Then last night Celtic asked if he could re-mark me, and this time he promised to be gentle. I decided to trust him and he followed through on his word. Then we both looked at each other and. . .sort of knew it was the right time to seal the deal." She awkwardly explained.

Both girls were listening with rapt fascination while Athena finished her story, and then Lex spoke up. "So. . .you love him?"

Without missing a beat, Athena nodded.

"I hadn't intended to." She admitted. "But. . .well it happened when we first started talking on the boat. He opened up to me and I. . .started to fall for him." She shook her head. "I learned a lot about his childhood and the family he once had." Her look turned a little angry then. "I will admit that if I ever meet his mother I'd probably try to beat her senseless." Lex and Lucinda looked at her with shock and Athena shook her head at them. "Sorry, his mother is horrible. But my point is, we both confronted what had gone wrong between us-" She pointed at her cheek mark for emphasis. "-and we both took the steps to fix it. And after it was fixed, giving myself to him felt right."

As she drifted into silence, the two other women now began to deeply contemplate their futures with the humanoids they had befriended.

Especially the new possibilities.

* * *

The yautjans stood in silence for a solid half an hour while they waited for something to happen.

The three blooded warriors looked at Yeyinde expectantly, but he had his back turned to them, and was cradling his head in his hands. Celtic knew this issue was with him, but he didn't know why the other two were getting dragged into this as well. When Yeyinde did turn around, they found to their relief that a lot of his anger from earlier was gone. Instead he just looked extremely. . .tired.

They didn't know which was more concerning, him being angry or him being tired.

"Sit down. . .all of you." He softly clicked at them. All three obeyed without a fight, taking spots on the ground or on a rock. Yeyinde let out a sigh and looked each one of them in the eye. "I know all three of you have been growing feelings for these _ooman_ **lou-dte kales**." He bluntly said. The sudden confrontation jolted the three, but Yeyinde continued on before they could reply. "What I am going to tell you is this. . .you are not the first yautja to have grown affections for an _ooman_."

Now the boys were just plain shocked. "What?!" Chopper clicked out loud. Collectively, all three felt an overwhelming sense of relief at this news, but curiosity pervaded them.

"If we are not the first, then who was?" Surprisingly, it was Scar that asked this time.

The boys turned and looked at Yeyinde expectantly as the ancient took a seat as well. He seemed hesitant, but he eventually answered them. "The only one that I know of personally-" Yeyinde began. "-was my **mei'hswei**. **Dhi'rauta'awu'asa.** " He looked up to find all three of the boys looking at him with shock, mandibles spread open wide. He frowned at their shocked expressions and the boys quickly closed their mandibles. Chopper clicked at Yeyinde. "I didn't know you had any _mei'hsweis_." He replied. Yeyinde shook his head. "I wa-am still forbidden to talk about him." Chopper frowned at this and Scar spoke up. "Is it because he loved a _ooman_?"

All three yautja saw Yeyinde's sad look as he nodded. " **Sei-i**. When the council found out, they silenced him and wiped out his name from ever existing."

Celtic now spoke. "And the _ooman_?" He asked. Yeyinde clicked his mandibles softly in response. "She was my _mei'hswei's_ hunting partner. In secret, he would take her from world to world and they would hunt together. But one hunt cost them her life. At the same time, the council had found out about their coupling and had sent out the enforcers to end them. When they found my brother, the _ooman lou-dte kale_ was already dead and my _mei'hswei_ was inconsolable. He didn't even put up any resistance as they. . .cut off his head and brought his body back."

A silence engulfed the group as the tale ended. Yeyinde was clearly saddened by this, but then all were surprised when Chopper stood up angrily. Now even Yeyinde was intimidated, because he had also never seen Chopper mad before.

Chopper clicked his mandibles harshly. "Your _mei'hswei_ had earned the right to mate with whomever he chose. Why kill him for that?!"

The others frowned at Chopper's clear distress. "Because they wanted my mei'hswei to produce pups, and he couldn't do that with the ooman-" "So they killed him for it!" Chopper clicked his mandibles hard enough to nearly crack them. Scar and Celtic grew alarmed at their friend's anger while Yeyinde stood up. "It's not that simple. You know how much our race values our genetics not to be mixed-" " **M-di**!" Chopper interrupted him. "Your mei'hswei had earned the right to choose who to be together with. The council had no right to take that from him! Especially when it doesn't even truly violate any of our codes since they couldn't even produce pups together!"

With a huff and a vicious kick that sent his rock he had used as a seat flying into the side of the house, Chopper left without even acknowledging the ancient anymore.

Under normal circumstances, this would have given Yeyinde the right to kill Chopper for such disrespect. But the ancient was not that brutal, and knew of Chopper's background. He knew how much this was distressing the young blooded warrior. Instead, he turned his attention back towards the other two. Both looked troubled, though Celtic seemed the most disturbed out of the two. He looked up at Yeyinde and met his eyes. "Are there others? Like your _mei'hswei_?" He softly clacked. Scar looked up as well and Yeyinde closed his eyes as he nodded at both of them. "When I was younger and more agile, I managed to stalk my way into the council record chambers and find the records of my _mei'hswei_. Despite his name being wiped away for the rest of us, the council will always keep a record of every yautja that has lived. My brother's name was kept in. . .special records." He explained.

"He was kept in the records that specifically listed every yautja that had mated with a race outside of our own." Yeyinde continued. "The only records that will ever be allowed for yautja like him. They are never to be shown to anyone outside of the council, and are never to be brought out for any reason unless it's to write another name and history down."

Yeyinde's fists clenched at his side as he spoke. "My _mei'hswei_ will forever be shamed for his actions and will never get the glory and honor that you three could if you renounce the _ooman lou-dte kales_ now and came back home as respectable hunters." He gave Celtic a pointed look. "Even I will keep the incident of your mating last night a secret if you did this now." He promised.

A deadly silence passed through the three as they waited on Celtic's answer.

For a while, he didn't speak. He just contemplated Yeyinde's offer. Finally, he shook his head and stood up. He looked Yeyinde in the eye. "I can not." His reply was blunt and firm. Both Yeyinde and Scar stared at him as Celtic ventured on. "Yeyinde, I am already forever shamed among our clan no matter how many trophies I bring back from future hunts. I am the son of a **ic'jit**. All of our females will be suspicious of me and will not want to bear my pups even if I brought back all the queen **kiande amedha** heads in the universe. Until the day I die, I will forever be suspected of going down the same path as my father."

Then he took a breath. "But Athena knows my past, and doesn't view me with suspicion at all."

Yeyinde and Scar openly stared at him and Celtic pressed on. "I told her of what had happened to me in my pup years. I told her of how I became the way I am. She didn't reject me after she heard it. She didn't see me with suspicion like the rest of our clan do, and the first thing she did when she learned about me was hug me." He softly clicked on. "And even though I am ashamed of it, I did let myself cry in front of her. She doesn't view me as weak for it. She went out of her way to comfort me." Celtic hadn't realized that he was trembling as he spoke until now. "And for the first time in a long time, I am happy. truly happy, with her. She brings me joy and I am even gladder when she gets happiness from me. No promises of glory can make me want to lose this. No threats on my life can make me want to go back to a clan that secretly despises my existence. No _lou-dte kale_ of our race can replace her and the peace she brings to me."

Celtic looked up at the stunned looks on their faces as he confessed more than he had meant to. He stood up and sighed. "I am sorry Yeyinde." He said to the ancient. "But I choose her. And I will fight for her if I have to."

When no comment was made, he turned and followed Chopper back into the house, refusing to look back.

Now with Chopper and Celtic gone, Yeyinde turned his gaze onto Scar, who remained seated. "Well?" He clicked with just a touch of anger. "Are you going to follow them?" Scar's lower mandibles drooped into a frown as he thought about it. He looked down at the ground and clicked his talons on the rock beneath him in thought. Finally, he looked up at Yeyinde and answered honestly. "I do not have the same intimacy with Lex as Chopper and Celtic have with their oomans. . .but I would like to." At Yeyinde's clearly aghast look, Scar tried to explain himself. "I have been wanting this for a while. I don't know when it started, but I. . .have slowly been growing closer to her."

Yeyinde's look revealed nothing but disappointment, so Scar stood up. "I'm sorry." He softly clicked. "But I choose her as well." Yeyinde squinted at Scar and rose to his full height to match him. "And if she doesn't choose you?" He challenged. "What will you do then?" Scar tilted his head at Yeyinde and let himself frown at the ancient. "Then I will keep trying until she does." He firmly replied.

And now he turned and went back into the house as well.

* * *

Chopper stomped back up to his room only to find Lucinda already there.

When she saw him, she hopped down from the bed and strode over to him. Chopper bent down to her level and she grasped his face in her hands. She could tell he was upset, though she didn't know what about. "Chopper?" She asked. "What's wrong?" She frowned as he slipped the mask back on himself and she had to ask him again.  
Chopper knew his reply would be too long to try to speak it back in her language. Instead, he did what he had seen Celtic do before, and just handed her the mask.

Lucinda hesitantly slipped it on and Chopper began to rapidly click at her.

"I don't want to lose you!" He suddenly said. Lucinda grew startled and Chopper picked her up and hugged her close as he kept clicking. "Yeyinde just told me how my clan would try to kill you if they knew of your friendship with me. He told me how you could be killed because I chose you over my clan." He was shaking and Lucinda noticed tears slowly coming out of his eyes. "I don't want to lose you." He clicked. "I don't want you to be killed because of me. . ."

Lucinda was stunned into silence and Chopper silently wept into her shoulder as he refused to let her go.  
"Lucinda." He croaked her name before looking up at her. "I love you."

Silence filled the room.

Chopper was scared. He knew he loved her. He knew it because his parents taught him how to recognize it. They explained how to tell if he was falling for someone and the downsides and upsides if he did end up loving another. Loving someone meant wanting to protect them beyond reason. He felt the excruciating need to protect Lucinda from every threat. His mother had explained to him how loving someone meant you were constantly going to worry over them when even the smallest things went wrong. It wasn't like a normal yautjan relationship where if your partner died it was "oh well, time to find someone stronger". It was more of "If they die, I don't know how I'm going to keep living myself".  
Chopper felt that now. He felt beyond scared for Lucinda. He felt worry beyond relief and he didn't know how he could possibly fix their situation.  
He also felt worried at the fact that Lucinda hadn't responded to him this entire time to his declaration.

For several seconds, Lucinda had remained silent before swiftly lifting the mask off of her face and placing it over his. Chopper placed the mask on and Lucinda immediately responded to him afterwards. "Chopper." She fiercely looked him in the eye. "I love you too."

Now Chopper looked stunned as Lucinda explained her side of things.

"I love you too and don't want to lose you. I'm also scared for what could happen to us. I'm especially scared of what could happen to you as well. Ever since the incident on the boat, I'm beginning to realize that both sides are dangerous for both of us." She cupped his chin and ran a thumb over one mandible slowly. "But. . .you're worth all the worry." She smiled at him.

While Chopper was momentarily frozen in shock, Lucinda slipped his mask off and kissed his forehead in affection before putting the mask back on.

That was all the incentive Chopper need to feel better. He picked Lucinda up in his arms and hugged her close in joy before carrying her over to the bed. He sat them both down and had intended to cuddle with her and take a nap, but was stopped when Lucinda put a hand up to his shoulder. He noticed her face turn red and she suddenly looked like her shy old self. She was looking anywhere but at him.

"Umm, Chopper?" She bit her lip. "Could we maybe. . .take this one step further?"

Chopper tilted his head at her in confusion so Lucinda pressed on. "I like cuddling with you and all, but. . .I'd like to feel. . .more of you." Her face burned bright red and she hid it behind her hands. "Does that even make sense?" She bemoaned. Chopper's curiosity peaked and he gave her the mask. When she had it on, he placed a hand on her exposed thigh. "Do you mean to feel more of me like this?" He slowly slid his hand up her shorts until he almost touched her core. Lucinda squeaked and jumped at the sensation, but nodded her head as her cheeks kept heating up. She forced her leg to hold still for him while Chopper began to stroke her thigh.  
"So. . .you want to mate with me?" Lucinda was trembling, but she nodded her head again

Chopper's mandibles rose in a grin and he grabbed them rim of her shorts before pulling them off with one swift tug. "Good thing I want to mate with you too."

Lucinda squeaked as Chopper was suddenly above her and she was pinned to the mattress with her hands held captive above her head. With nothing but her panties and T-Shirt covering her, Lucinda felt all of her pent up lust and heat swell up as he lowered himself down to her level. "I promise to be gentle." He clicked close to her ear before pulling the rest of her clothes off as well.

Chopper learned just how squishy and cuddly Lucinda could be that morning.

* * *

Lex found Scar hiding in the basement of the house when she went to grab extra blankets from there.

She rose an eyebrow at his cowering figure and strode over to him. "Scar?" She called. Scar looked up at her and saw Lex tilt her head at him curiously. "Any particular reason you're hiding?" She asked. Scar lifted his arm and typed into his gauntlet before replying to her. "Jjusstt. . . .ttryinng tto. . .sslleepp. . ." He said. Now Lex looked at him like he was weird. "Down here? What's wrong with our room?" She asked. Scar shook his head vehemently and glared at the opening of the stair way, even though Lex couldn't see where he was looking. "They'rrre. . . .mmattinng. . ." He replied. "Again?!" Lex exclaimed. Scar shook his head at her. "Nno. . .Chchoppperrr. . . anndd. . .Llucinndda. . ." He struggled to get their names out. Lex stared at him. "Them too?!" Scar nodded and Lex looked exasperated. "I am kicking all four of them outside for the night!" she said in annoyance.

Scar couldn't help but chuckle at her tantrum before typing into his gauntlet. "Unnlesss yyou. . .wwanntt tto. . .jjoinn. . .the. . .ffunn." He was only half joking.

Lex stopped and turned to look at Scar before sighing and taking a seat next to him. "Scar." She softly said his name. He looked at her quizzically and Lex took his hand in hers. "I'm not. . .ready for that. . .just yet." She replied. Scar felt a flash of hurt before Lex raised her other hand and gestured at herself. "I'm not saying I don't want you or that I don't want something with you." She explained. "It's just. . .I would like to go slow. I would like us to get to know each other first before we jump into something we weren't ready for."

Scar contemplated this for a moment before typing back. "Sso. . .yyou'rre nnott. . .ssayyinng. . .yyou ddonn'tt. . .wwanntt tto. . .ttrry?"

Lex nodded at him. "I don't want to move this too fast. I do want to try, but. . .let's take our time." She gestured with her head back towards the stairs. "There's nothing wrong with them sealing the deal now, but for me. . .I want us to be sure first."  
' _Sealing the deal?_ ' Scar thought. ' _What metaphor is that for?!_ '

While Scar contemplated this, Lex stood up and reached a hand down to him. "Come on." She said. "We're probably going to have to be the ones sleeping outside tonight. I doubt we could convince those four to take their business elsewhere." Scar nodded his head in silent agreement and rose up with her.

Both left the basement with clearer feelings than before.

* * *

 _Author's note: translation time!_

- **ooman** : human

- **lou-dte kales** : females/ child bearers

- **mei'hswei** : brother

- **Dhi'rauta** : cunning

- **'awu'asa** : armor

- **Sei-i** : yes

- **M-di** : no

- **ic'jit** : bad blood

- **kiande amedha** : hard meat/ xenomorph

 _All I am going to say is this. Thank you for reading and NO LEMONS FOR YOU! Heeheehee._

 _Bye!_


	45. Progression

Three days after the mating incident with their friends, Lex was woken up by something slim but heavy dropping on her stomach.

She groaned and sat up to find one of the humanoid's spears laying in her lap, un-sprung to its full length. Blinking in confusion, she looked over to find Scar sitting in an arm chair and slipping on his clothes and armor. Lex grasped the spear to keep it from slipping. "Scar?" Her voice croaked from being dry and she took a drink of water from her nightstand cup before giving her attention back to the humanoid. He was now looking up at her and she gestured to him and the spear in her hand. "What's this for?" She asked, voice clearer now. Scar quickly slipped on his mask and motioned for her to repeat herself, so she did.

Scar gestured to the spear in her hand and then to himself before typing. "Yyou. . .mme. . .hunnttinng. . ." He simply said.

Lex rose an eyebrow and sat up in bed while Scar finished getting strapped up in gear. She stretched her arms above her head with a yawn, revealing her belly in the process. She yawned again before speaking to him. "Why are we hunting?" She asked. Scar gestured to her then back to himself. "Yyou. . .ssaidd. . .yyou. . .wouldd. . .llikke. . .tto. . .ttry. . .anndd. . .ttakke. . .ththiss. . .sslow. . ." "Oh." Lex blinked as she thought she knew where he was going with this. ' _I did say I'd like to try a relationship with him._ ' She smiled at him humorously as she began to take off her pajama shirt. "So is this your version of a date?"

Scar tilted his head at her in confusion. His mandibles also clicked his confusion as he tried to figure out what she meant by that.

His translator told him 'date' as in the time of year. He didn't understand what the time of year had to do with what they were about to do. Nor what she meant by 'his version' of it. He just wanted to hunt with her since new partners back on his planet often hunted together as a way to work on their companionship. He figured hunting together could help them feel more attuned to the other's presence and maybe convince Lex to take things further with him if he could prove how good of a hunter he was.

Lex on the other hand could tell he was confused and quickly realized what might have gone wrong. ' _Their translators probably don't have a lot of our slang programmed in._ ' She thought to herself before explaining to him. "A date can also mean an activity used for courtship. We're going hunting so we can court each other."  
At least, she hoped this hunting was because he wanted to take her on a date.

Scar nodded enthusiastically, glad that the intentions of this hunt weren't lost on her. At least she understood that this was some form of attempt to grow closer together.

Lex stood up and flung her shirt to the bed, quickly followed by her pants. "Give me a minute and I'll be ready." She said as she opened up her luggage to dig out a sturdy sports bra.  
Scar watched her for a minute while she changed before turning his head away. While he did find her body physically attractive (now that his views on her species had changed), he knew that she valued her privacy. She would not appreciate him eyeing her naked body even if he had already made it clear that he found her appealing.

With a grunt on her end, Scar looked up when she gave him the signal to do so. "Ready to go when you are!" She said cheerfully as she hefted the spear up.

Scar clicked his approval and they both left the room to start their hunt.

* * *

Cuddled on a couch in the front living room, Celtic was sprawled out on the furniture while Athena was laid out on top of him.

She had her head tucked underneath his chin and was nuzzling his neck with her nose while he rubbed her back with both hands and tangled their legs together playfully. He found great pleasure in running his hands through her hair, and she almost seemed to purr from it whenever he got close to her scalp.  
Just to tease her, he drifted one hand down to her bottom and gave it a squeeze. Athena squealed and wiggled around while he clicked his mandibles in laughter and squeezed her again. "Celtic!" She whined. Celtic trilled at her and she rolled her eyes before tucking her head under his chin again.

When he continued rubbing her back, Athena reached up and tapped on his mask with a nail. The rubbing stopped and he looked down at her.

"Hey." She smiled before leaning up on her elbows on his chest. "I've been thinking about some things lately." She began.  
Celtic didn't like the sound of that, so he gave her his mask and clicked back at her before she could continue. "About what?" Athena gave the mask back and sat up before pointing at herself, then him. "About how we talk." She said. Celtic tilted his head at her, so she went on to explain. "Now that we're together, wouldn't it be best if we learned each other's languages?" Celtic thought about this and Athena gently massaged his neck while she waited for a reply. He handed her the mask when he was done thinking and she slipped it on. "Is the mask bothering you?" He clicked, wondering if the thing was too cumbersome on her and that's why she wanted to do this. Athena handed the mask back and shook her head. "A little." She admitted. "There's nothing wrong with it. It's just that I'd like to actually look at your face when I'm talking to you, and not at a mask." She explained.

Celtic handed the mask back to her and admitted that he sometimes felt the same way about it, though he tried not to think about it too much.

"How do you want to start this then?" He asked and she handed him back the metal protection. She pointed at various parts of her body. "Let's start with ourselves." She said. "I can say a body part in my language and you'll tell me what it is back in yours." She offered. Celtic tilted his head at her before handing his mask back. "But we have different body parts." He pointed out. Athena chuckled and handed him the mask before gesturing at herself. "Well. . .I can just grab the parts of you I'm talking about." She gave an impish grin while purposefully looking down at his crotch area. Celtic felt his internal heat rise from her implication, but couldn't help but devilishly grin back with his own mandibles as he handed the mask back. "So, I get to grab your parts too then?" He clicked.

Athena giggled and nodded while Celtic sat up. "Let's get to our first lesson then."

* * *

Chopper and Lucinda were already steps ahead of Athena and Celtic.

Lucinda found that Chopper picked up on her language quickly, having to only go through a review of their previous lesson once in order to get it down. Meanwhile, she realized with frustration that it took her three or four reviews in order to memorize his. Even though she was getting frustrated with herself, Chopper was very patient with her, and gladly helped her review the previous vocabulary they had gone over.  
The only comfort Lucinda saw in this was that his language reminded her deeply of Morse Code. The clicks he made with his mandibles had a certain rhythm to it. Instead of having to actually memorize a new word, she had to memorize a new rhythm. Sadly, his language was spoken so fast that she had a hard time replying back to it when all she could do was click her teeth back. Her teeth weren't fast enough, and she contemplated getting a dog-training clicker since she new her fingers would be faster.

Her biggest dread though was when she'd eventually have to learn the tone of each click. Like her language, his words had tone.  
She dreaded that very much.

"You are coming a long way." Chopper clicked at her with encouragement, though he knew she probably only knew about three of the words he just said. Lucinda frowned, but the gesture was aimed more towards herself than him. She in fact, could only recognize two words, but guessed at what he was trying to say. "Am I really?" She grumbled to herself. Chopper leaned over and nudged her foot with his. " **Sei-i**." He clicked behind his mask. He had kept it on just in case she needed to ask him something in English. Lucinda rose a suspicious eyebrow at him. " **M-di** I'm not." She replied with a pout. Chopper suddenly clicked his mandibles rapidly and she remembered how he had told her that this type of clicking was their version of laughing. She folded her arms at him and huffed. "And what's so funny?" she griped. Chopper calmed himself down and nuzzled her before handing her the mask. "You do not know the controversy of what you just said." He clicked before chuckling again. "You tell me 'no' yet you say it in my language. I think it's funny." He clicked before pulling her into his lap.

Lucinda handed him the mask and settled herself against him with a sigh. "Everything about me makes you laugh." She pointed out.

Chopper clicked and rubbed her hip while handing the mask back. "This is true, because you are funny to me." He gave her hip a gentle pinch before stroking her side. "I believe it is my turn for the lesson." He clicked. Lucinda nodded against him and sat up, removing herself from his lap and facing him. He handed her the mask and she tried to remember where they had stopped last time. Pulling out her phone, she searched up a bunch of pictures and showed them to Chopper. "Tree." She said.

Chopper instantly replied. "Tree."

* * *

In a ship that was no longer that far away from the group, two elders decided their course of action when they were interrupted by an Eta.

"The scanners have found the four." The Eta, Zabin, informed them.

The two looked up at the Eta and one acknowledged him while the other tried to hide his look of disgust at the Eta's presence. "Where are they?" Bakuub asked. The Eta held up a wrist gauntlet (his designed purely for communication purposes) and pulled up a holographic map of the world they were hovering. On one of the seemingly large islands that made up the land mass of this world, four tiny red indicators blinked in and out of existence. Small symbols that were their written language scrolled to the side of the holographic screen; giving coordinates to the red indicator's positions.

Both Bakuub and Guan-thwei stared at the holograph in surprise. "That is no where near where we dropped them off." Guan-thwei growled. Bakuub nodded his head in agreement and reached over to touch some buttons on the gauntlet, the Eta holding perfectly still. Any movement on his part would earn him a swift slap from the elders if it disturbed their work.  
The holograph zoomed in and showed even more precise coordinates than before. Sadly, it couldn't show them a closer view.

Bakuub growled in annoyance and looked at the Eta.

"Tell the navigators and the pilots to communicate and get us all to that location. Then tell the rest of the clan to prepare for battle once more. This temporary truce is almost over. We could be attacked at any time."  
The eta simply bowed his head and wheeled himself out of the room, thankful not to be in their presence any longer than he had to.

Bakuub turned back to Guan-thwei and the two shared a look.

"Do you think the boys will be healed by now?" Guan-thwei asked, his clicks barely vibrating to show his nervousness. Bakuub scowled and clicked back. "They have to be. Otherwise we're doomed." His shoulders slumped as the weight of this territory war bore down on him. "It'll be by luck alone if we are victorious with them at full health. If they're injured. . . **Paya** help us, we'll need the God's blessing to fight this."

Guan-thwei silently agreed. While both clans took significant hits on both sides, the honor-less clan that attacked them still had significantly more able bodies than they did.  
They were ill-prepared for this. . .

Their ship began to move and enter the planet's atmosphere. Both elders were certain the other ship would remain in orbit until they returned. Taking a war to a foreign planet was foolish, especially with the natural dominant species being _oomans_. It was just begging for trouble and interference.

Apparently, they bet too hard on the enemy keeping the war in space. The warring clan stealthy followed the second ship, keeping close enough for their scanners to barely track, but far enough that the first ship wouldn't detect their presence.

Little did they know that a third ship trailed behind them. This one smaller and meant for only a small team of yautja to inhabit. The crew on this ship were all blooded warriors and not anywhere close to being considered novices. They were already geared and ready for battle.

The leader of this berserker crew was a very familiar yautja, who's most obvious facial features seemed to be as if half of his face had been melted off be **kiande amedha thwei**.

This group came to aid the first.

* * *

Lex and Scar were finally making their way home after spending the majority of the day hunting. Or trying to, anyway.

Thanks to the winter beginning to settle in, animals were scarce. Combined with the fact that Scar wasn't familiar with the animals on earth and you had poor findings. Lex did manage to point out a few rabbit holes along the way. Scar was content with setting traps near the holes thanks to this. She also showed him where they could get fish. Lex became amused with how Scar became happy with himself whenever he managed to spear a fish with his combistick. ' _Probably just glad that we're catching anything._ ' Lex reasoned with herself as Scar finished with his enthusiastic fishing. Lex took his kills and showed him how to gut and clean the fish before storing them in a container.

They left back to the cabin soon after, collecting the rabbits that had fallen into their traps along the way.

Scar had snapped the rabbits' necks before stringing them together and flinging them over his shoulders. Thanks to this, Lex could only imagine the heart attack her mother nearly got when they walked through the door and found her there.

Her mother had returned with groceries.

Miss Martha Woods stared at her daughter as she walked through the door with her humanoid friend. Lex was carrying a bucket that was making a sloshing sound as she walked and her friend had a bunch of dead rabbit carcasses over his shoulder. She glanced at her daughter for an explanation and Lex gave her a sheepish grin. "Hunting." She explained. "This was all we could find." Martha rose an eyebrow at her daughter. "What's in the bucket?" She demanded.

"Fish." Lex plopped the bucket down as Scar carried the rabbits into the kitchen.

Martha sighed and shook her head at her daughter. "And just when I brought you groceries too." She said as she gestured to the bags on the table. Lex came over and inspected the bags while her mother took a seat with a heavy thud. "I wanted to ask why you were gone for several days." Lex admitted. Martha shook her head. "If you're being tracked, then I might be too. So I went out of state to buy supplies and then came back."

Lex blinked and looked up at her mother with a worried frown. "So. . .are you staying here too?"

Her mother gave a reluctant nod. "Just for a little while." She said. "Then I might go nag your sister and stay with her for a while." Lex grinned at this and went over to hug her mother. "Thanks mom." She whispered, so grateful her mother was supportive of her weird situation.

Lex felt warm arms wrap around her middle and a loving voice whisper in her ear. "You're welcome sweetheart."

They stayed like that for a long while.

* * *

Yeyinde stood atop the roof, peering at the night sky and then at his gauntlet.

He wasn't mistaken then. His gauntlet was giving him a signal of their clans oncoming arrival. A small flashing red light was going off on the device. Earlier, it had only blinked once and Yeyinde thought he was just tricking his mind into thinking that he had seen it. But now it was flashing again, slowly but surely.

He could now track the ship!

Yeyinde typed into his gauntlet and pulled up the holographic image of their vessel entering the planet's atmosphere. He estimated the arrival time and sighed.  
Two to three days. They only had two or three days until their clan would come and take them home.

He didn't know if he should be excited or nervous by this news.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- **Sei-i: Yes**

- **M-di: No**

- **Paya: Their thunder god.**

- **kiande amedha: Hard meat/ xenomorph**

- **thwei** : **blood**

 _Sorry I couldn't update last Sunday guys. It's been a busy week. But I hope you all enjoyed this and comment your thoughts down below!_

 _See you next chapter!_


	46. The Secret Plan

Scar felt like his progression with Lex had improved significantly.

In just two days they had gone on five hunting trips together (all of them successful despite the winter setting in) and their natural rhythms had started to sync up. Non-verbal ques were being sent between them and they got better and better at working as a team. With each hunt, they brought back more and more. Lex even joked that she could make herself a loin cloth to match his with all of the pelts they were collecting. Scar rumbled back that he wouldn't mind seeing her in one.

Much to his surprise, their flirting started picking up as well.

It started with small touches. Scar would accidentally bump into her on occasion and to his delight, Lex would lightly bump him back. These little jabs would continue at each other until both were laughing and rubbing up against each other to the point of cuddling. Scar felt like the woods was their private spot from the others and apparently Lex did too.

At one point she even grew bold enough to pinch his bottom while he was bent over and collecting a rabbit from their trap.

Scar turned and trilled his delight at her boldness. Lex simply grinned mischievously at him while he stood up and approached her. Lex slowly back up until she hit a tree behind her, but that didn't stop the Humanoid's approach. Scar towered over her, but he leaned down until he reached her level and pressed a mandible to her cheek affectionately. He heard a low rumble escape her throat, passing as ****ooman**** laughter. While she was distracted, Scar reached around her and pinched her bottom back. "Hey!" She giggled. Scar clicked in laughter at her before helping her back up and away from the tree.

Scar slipped on his mask and they were about to go back to their rabbit when they heard a rustling nearby.

Lex's hearing only told her that a very large animal had made the noise, and that the animal was close. Scar's hearing told him more. He recognized Yeyinde's approach, and knew that the ancient had purposefully made noise to grab their attention. Even when old and slowly growing frail, Yeyinde was still skilled enough to move without making noise if he wanted to.

Scar stood and turned towards the noise, taking a respectful stance in arrival of the ancient.

Lex looked at him quizzically before her attention was snatched by another one of his kind stepping out from the bushes. Lex recognized him instantly as Yeyinde and smiled. "Hey." She greeted. Scar trilled his own greeting, one that was a little less informal than hers. Yeyinde nodded his head at both of them and barely leaned his weight against his combistick as he stood. "I have news to bring." He said. He spoke English for Lex's sake, but Scar's mask translated it enough for him.

Lex rose an eyebrow at him curiously. "What is it?" She asked.

Yeyinde gave each of them a brief glance before settling his gaze on Scar. "The clan is coming here." He said. Scar stood stunned and still while Lex turned her head to him. "Your clan?" She asked. Scar gave her a nod before looking at Yeyinde. "How soon?" He clicked. Yeyinde pointed at the sun that was already halfway in the sky. "When their star reaches the end of its journey." He replied. Scar grew troubled by this news, but Lex looked a little sad. "They're already coming to pick you all up?" She frowned. Yeyinde gave a little chuckle with his mandibles before giving a signature yautjan smile at her. "Are you implying that you will miss us?" He asked. Lex gave a small nod. "I may have grown a little fond of you all." She replied. Yeyinde shook his head and looked at her with a tinge of sadness in his own eyes. "Though we enjoyed your welcome to our company-" He began. "We must return home. We would not have been able to stay here forever." Lex frowned at this and Scar stepped forward. "Yeyinde." He clicked. "What about Celtic and Chopp-" "We will discuss this matter with them later." Yeyinde interrupted, his clicking coming out a little harsher than he meant to. "Right now, it's best we all return to the structure and prepare for their arrival."

Lex could tell that Scar's mood had turned sour and her hand reached out and grasped his subconsciously.

Yeyinde watched this little display with a critical eye while Scar gently squeezed her hand back. ' _So she has chosen him._ ' Yeyinde thought dismally while turning his back and starting to head towards the house. He internally cursed the complications of their situation. Now he'd have to convince all three boys to abandon the _ooman_ ****lou-dte kales****. For both species safety.

Yeyinde felt the weight of this prospect bare down on his shoulders as they returned home.

* * *

" **M-di**." Chopper snapped with finality.

The four yautjans were gathered in the living room and discussing what was to come while the _oomans_ were all upstairs, giving them their privacy.

Yeyinde gave Chopper an angry look, signifying that his patience was wearing thin. "You have no choice!" He snapped, taking a threatening step forward. "The clan is coming and they will expect you to come back. Do you know the repercussions you will face if you don't?" "I am a blooded warrior!" Chopper yelled back, equally angry. "I can hunt on my own for now if I chose! If I stay here, they would have no choice but to let me! Especially if I said it was for hunting purposes." Yeyinde looked ready to strangle him, but took a deep breath before trying to bring reason back into the conversation again.

"Would you risk their lives just because you wanted to stay?" He softly clicked.

Chopper had been ready to retort but was stopped by the question. The impact hit him hard, and his resolve started to crumble against his will. So had Celtic's and Scar's. Yeyinde continued on, glad that he had their full attention on the matter now. "If the clan figures out that you three have mated with the _oomans_ , they will not attack you. They will go after them first. In front of your own eyes, they will kill the _oomans_ first just so their deaths will break you. And while you are mourning them, they will slay you too."  
Yeyinde looked down at the floor with barely controlled sadness before looking back up. "Though I am against your mating them-" he said. "-even I am fond of them. I do not wish to see them killed, especially when I know what their deaths would do to you three." He looked each of them in the eye, seeing that they were all shaken. "If you all love them as you claim you do, do not put their lives at risk for your selfish desires. You have a chance, a **chance** at seeing them again if you go back now."

He turned and looked at Chopper in particular, who looked the most shaken.

"You are right." He said. "You are blooded and have the right to hunt on your own if you so choose. Instead of using that right to stay here, use it to see them in secret if you have to." The three boys gave him shocked looks as he explained. "Go out and hunt on other worlds before returning to see them. Give the clan no reason to suspect your secret matings with these _oomans_. Return with trophies to bring you honor so that suspicion of your activities with them will be turned away."  
This time Celtic stepped forward. "Yeyinde, you would have us do secret acts behind the clan's back?" He asked in pure awe. Yeyinde frowned at him. "I will have no joy in it." He replied. "But I have already kept so many secrets. Ones as dangerous as this that I suggest to you." He took a steady breath. "I just beg that you use reason for your actions in what is soon to come. We will have to present the _oomans_ to the clan, as they did take part in your **Chivas**. But I beg of you, do not give the clan suspicion of any closeness with the _lou-dte kales_. Show them to be comrades in battle, but nothing more. Your lives and theirs depend on it."

He looked at Chopper in particular. "Please."

Chopper frowned at him, but gave a solemn nod. He did not like arguing in general, and especially not towards Yeyinde. If they were back home, he could have been killed for daring to talk back, but this situation was different. They were dealing with secrets and schemes that were new and practically unheard of to their kind.  
Chopper gave a reluctant sigh. "Yeyinde. . .Is this really the only option we have?" He asked. The ancient gave a slow nod. " **Sei-i.** " He clicked. "You three alone cannot fight an entire clan. Especially not your own." His tone was soft but final. Chopper's head tilted to the floor as he strained to hold in his grief. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all that he had to keep hidden what should have been his right to openly have.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and looked up to find Yeyinde frowning at him. "I'll give you time to think about it." He clicked. "But a decision will have to be made soon."

He turned and walked away, leaving the three boys to ponder their fates.

* * *

Athena was folding her clothes when she felt two arms wrap around her middle.

She smiled and turned to Celtic, only for her smile to turn into a frown when she saw the look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" She clicked at him. She had grown significantly in speaking to him. Not enough to have a full on conversation, but little phrases could stick with her.

Celtic frowned and leaned his head over to rest on her shoulder after handing her the mask.

He hugged her close and began to click at her. "We. . .Chopper, Scar and I. . .we've made a decision." He slowly clicked. Athena tilted her head at him and handed him back the mask after he lifted his head from her shoulder. Athena reached a hand up and cupped his jaw tenderly. "Is this about your clan coming?" She asked. Yeyinde had debriefed them all before taking the boys aside for a talk earlier.  
Celtic nodded at her and handed her the mask back before placing his hands on her hips. "We. . .we. . .we're going back with the clan." He clacked, finding it hard to get out. As soon as he said it, his heart picked up speed and he couldn't look her in the eyes. He grew afraid of her reaction and suddenly didn't know how he could possibly explain all of this to her.

It turns out, he didn't have to.

Athena placed the mask back on him while he wasn't looking and stroked his neck with one hand. "I'm guessing your clan wouldn't like the fact that we're together?" She softly smiled at him, though her eyes showed sadness. Celtic looked up at her and nodded while Athena slowly shrugged. "To tell you the truth, neither would my species." She went on. "At least, not all of them. I kind of guessed something like this would come along."  
Celtic frantically handed her back the mask while quickly trying to explain their plan. "Chopper and Scar are explaining this to Lucinda and Lex. We'll come by and visit. We'll make sure you're safe and protected while the cla-" Athena held a finger up and pressed it to his mandibles to keep him from speaking. She handed the mask over first before speaking. "Celtic." She softly said. "I trust you."  
Celtic's heart gave a thump as she leaned over and whispered in the area where a normal human ear would be. "But I would like you to know-" She couldn't help but grin. "-That when you come to visit, you better be ready to take me to the bed again for a fun time."  
Celtic's arousal suddenly shot up as the seductive woman kissed his neck and trailed a hand down his side and to his hip. Celtic couldn't help but grasp her waist as he gave the mask back.

He leaned up and towered over her, a show of dominance that was charged by his sexual tension. "Do you wish for me to give you a fun time in our bed right now?" He purred.  
With a single but eager nod from Athena, Celtic picked her up and turned them around so they fell to the bed together. Athena's legs wrapped around his hips and Celtic could already feel her heated core against his loins.  
Athena reached up and grabbed one of his dreads in a gentle hold. "Make me scream." She begged.

Celtic didn't need the mask to understand what she was asking. With another dominating roar, he made the bed shake with

Later that night in the nearby mountains, a single large ship landed down and took cover in a thick grove of trees.

With the invisibility shields up, they didn't fear the possibility of _oomans_ finding them. Two elders exited the ship and left to find the four missing yautja after instructing the rest of the group to stay behind with the ship.  
An hour latter, a second ship landed nearby, hiding behind a second mountain from the first ship.  
A half hour later, a third landed, following the same pattern of hiding as the second.

The war had begun.

her for hours on end.

* * *

Later that night in the nearby mountains, a single large ship landed down and took cover in a thick grove of trees.

With the invisibility shields up, they didn't fear the possibility of _oomans_ finding them. Two elders exited the ship and left to find the four missing yautja after instructing the rest of the group to stay behind with the ship.  
An hour latter, a second ship landed nearby, hiding behind a second mountain from the first ship.  
A half hour later, a third landed, following the same pattern of hiding as the second.

The war had begun.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- **ooman** : human

- **lou-dte kales** : child bearers/ females

- **Chivas** : trials

- **M-di** : no

- **Sei-i** : Yes

 _I have some sad news for you all.  
This story is coming to a close soon. It's only got a few more chapters left. But there shall be a second story (book? Would it be called a book if it's a fanfiction?)!_

 _I won't give details about it now, but I will on the final chapter of this story. So I hope you all have had a pleasant time with this story. It's been fun to write it and I hope it was worth your time._

 _See you in the next chapter._


	47. We Fight With You

Yeyinde heard the elders coming before he could even see them.

The noises they made in the woods traveled far, and he rushed to get everyone ready. The sun hadn't even risen yet and he felt that something big was about to happen, and not entirely good.  
He found the boys and the ****lou-dte kales**** in various states of intimacy and barked at them all to get ready. When demanded why, he quickly explained of the clan's approach. The group quickly got dressed (He noticed that Lucinda and Athena had to cover some bite marks left by Celtic and Chopper) and met him downstairs. Once down there, Yeyinde opened the door and led the group out.

"Don't give away any hints of what has happened here!" He hissed at the group warningly.

He saw only two elders approach and his worry increased tremendously. Where was the third one? And now that he thought about it, did the boys smell too much like the _lou-dte kales_ now? Did the _lou-dte kales_ smell too much like them?  
Yeyinde didn't get a chance to think on this further as ****Bakuub**** and ****Guan-thwei**** approached. Their faces looked mournful and worried. When they saw that the approaching group included ****oomans**** , their expressions changed to momentary shock. Bakuub clicked his mandibles at Yeyinde. "It seems we both have stories to tell." His tone was sad and regretful enough to make Yeyinde forget about worrying for the boys. He now worried for the entire clan.

"What happened?" He clicked back.

He noticed out of the corner of his eyes how the boys slipped their masks to the _lou-dte kales_ to translate for them. He hoped that wasn't a bad sign to the elders, but returned his attention to said elders when they started talking. Guan-thwei took the lead. "We need you and the blooded to return to the ship." He began. "We're. . .losing the war. . . Nearly everyone is wounded in some way. They still have more numbers than us, but with you and the blooded, we can turn this around."  
Yeyinde stared at them, but the only thing he could muster was "Where's ****Dahdtoudi****?" Silence permeated the group until Bakuub spoke. "He fought bravely." He softly clicked.

Yeyinde and the boys bowed their heads in momentary mourning and respect. They had bigger things to deal with at the moment.

Guan-thwei looked at the group of _oomans_ suspiciously. "May I ask what their involvement with you is?" He asked with forced respectfulness to Yeyinde. Yeyinde scowled at his attitude, but turned and gestured to the _lou-dte kales_. "These are the ****sain'jas**** who fought alongside these three during their ****Chivas****." He simple clicked, tone authoritative. "They have fought the ****Kiande Amedha**** on their own and have proven worthy to bear our mark." As soon as those words left his mandibles, the elders stared at him in shock and disbelief. Bakuub was the first to speak after some time. "We will have to watch the recordings on their masks to witness this." He hesitantly clicked, not wanting to outright say that he didn't believe Yeyinde. Guan-thwei nodded and Yeyinde gestured to the masks. "Do as you please." He said. "But even if you do not find the fights to your satisfaction, know this-" He gestured to each of the females before looking back. "These three are the reason we have survived on this planet for so long." More aghast looks were sent his way before he continued. "They have given us shelter and a means of leaving the perilous area of their _chivas_ that was quicker than what we would have had to do on our own."  
Yeyinde took a step back, purposefully aligning himself with the _oomans_. "So whether your satisfactions are met or not, we still owe them much. Their lives will be spared despite being witnesses to our existence." He clicked with finality, wielding his authority over them. As the ancient of the clan, deciding who lives and who dies outside of their species was entirely his decision. He could at least allow their lives to be spared if the elders outvoted him and decided that they weren't worthy of their marks.

Guan-thwei looked ready to protest when his gauntlet let out a series of automatic clicks, signaling an incoming message.

He looked down and brought his arm up to reluctantly answer the signal. A holographic image of a blooded yautja popped up and Guan-thwei scowled. "What has happened?" He demanded. The blooded yautja looked almost scared, but hid it well. "They followed us here to the planet." He clicked, shocking everyone in the group. "They are attacking our ship now. Our sensors say they have hidden their own ship somewhere close by." A rough image of the surrounding area popped up, showing two marked dots on the map.  
Bakuub and Guan-thwei looked pale and shaken. "Have you engaged in battle?" Guan-thwei asked. The blooded nodded. "They are making attempts to breach the ship. We have no choice." He replied.

Bakuub frowned with his lower mandibles while Guan-thwei looked enraged. "We'll be there soon!" He snapped, getting ready to close the holograph. "There's more." The blooded quickly added. Guan-thwei rose an eyebrow at him and the blooded's face had a hint of hope in it. "The mighty Wolf has come to our aid. . .and he brought reinforcements."

A violent noise was made behind the blooded and the last the group saw of him was him turning his head to look. The holograph cut out after that.

Guan-thwei and Bakuub looked up at Yeyinde, hope shining in their faces. "We must return to them, now!" Guan-thwei said, making sure to still keep his tone respectful with Yeyinde. "We must throw all of our forces at them while we can." Bakuub nodded his agreement with this decision, and Yeyinde sighed in defeat. "We will come to the clan's aid." He said, much to the elder's relief. "First let our group return to the structure to acquire our weapons. We'll need much of the supplies we left there."

The elders quickly bowed their heads at him. "Please be fast." Bakuub begged. "All time is needed."

With that, the group returned to the house. Minus the elders, who opted to wait outside.

* * *

"They are not fighting with us!" Chopper practically yelled when they entered the living room.

Lucinda and Athena scowled at him, all three girls still wearing the masks. "We can make that decision ourselves, thank you very much." Lucinda snapped, though Chopper didn't understand all of what she said.  
The suggestion was made that the girls join the fight as well, and the three boys instantly had objections to it.  
Chopper turned towards Lucinda and leaned down to nuzzle her, guessing that she was angry at him. "Please." He begged. "This is our fight, not yours. You don't need to possibly die for a war that had nothing to do with you."  
Lucinda practically slammed the mask back over his face, her expression angry. "Neither do you!" She yelped, near tears. "No one should have to fight in a war! But people still do anyway to protect the ones they care about." She reached up and held the sides of Chopper's face, tone becoming a little more gentle this time. "I care about you Chopper, and I want to fight by your side and help protect you." She touched her forehead to his. "I signed up for this when I mated you."

The group went silent after that. Though Lucinda couldn't see it, Chopper's eyes were filled with pain and were begging her not to make this decision.

Athena reached over and grasped Celtic's hand, looking him in the eye as she handed the mask back. "And I to you." She quietly said. "I'm not letting you fight this battle alone." Now Athena couldn't see Celtic's pained expression. He took her by the wrist and led her into the kitchen, away from the other's. He handed the mask back and took both of her hands into his. "Athena." He clicked, throat becoming tight. "Please don't do this." He begged, body beginning to shake. "I. . .I can't handle the thought of you dead! I can't handle the possibility that you wouldn't be there in my life any more."  
He lifted her hands and pressed them to the bottom of his chin, lower mandibles brushing her knuckles affectionately. "Please Athena!" He cried out. "Don't make me face this life without you. Don't fight this war for me. I can handle the probability of me dying, but you? It would destroy me!" A single tear left his eye and he held her hands tighter as his body shook with held back sobs. "Please. . .please. . . .please."

He couldn't look her in the eye as he begged over and over again for her to restrain from the fight. He only looked up when he felt one of her fingers lift up his chin from underneath.

Athena removed the mask and gently placed it onto his face. Celtic saw that her own eyes were watery and he felt a small kernel of shame at the fact that he was making her cry again. To his surprise, Athena leaned up and kissed his forehead tenderly, lips a little wet from the tears that she was now shedding. "Celtic." She pressed her forehead to his. "If me fighting is worrying you this much. . .I won't."

In an instant, Celtic had his arms wrapped around her and was thanking her over and over again as he threw off his mask and pressed his mandibles all over her face in a yautja style kiss.

* * *

The boys had gone back out and the girls all stayed behind.

Thanks to the group having awkwardly listened in on Athena and Celtic's conversation, Chopper found the right words to convince Lucinda to stay behind as well. Scar did too, though he had to try harder with Lex since she was the most stubborn of them all.

The girls wouldn't fight. . .or so the yautja thought.

As soon as they were gone, Athena whirled on Lex. "You got a map of this place?" She asked. Without even giving a verbal answer, Lex rushed to the kitchen and pulled out a map from one of the drawers. "I know this place like the back of my hand." She declared. "I saw briefly on the holograph where the two ships are at. I know where they are." She spread the map on the table and placed two nearby paperclips on the two areas. "I just don't know which ship belongs to the bad guys."

"Just look for the one that has less of those aliens on it." Martha suddenly piped up behind them.

Alexa Woods whirled around and spotted her mother leaning against the wall with folded arms and a serious expression. "Mom!" She exclaimed. "You're supposed to be in bed sleeping." "Well too bad." Her mother shrugged as she entered the room. "I heard the whole thing." Lex frowned at her mother. "Even the bits in alien speech?" She asked. Much to Lex's surprise, Martha held up a very familiar mask that she had been hiding behind her arm. She winked at Lex with a grin. "Yep!" She declared proudly. Lex gaped at her mother. "Where'd you get that?!" Her mother tapped the forehead of the mask then pointed at herself. "A gift to your father from the alien he allied with."  
Lucinda spoke up from behind Lex. "I thought the spear was the gift?" She asked. Martha shook her head. "Nope, he took that off of another one of those Aliens who had been dead when Lex's father found them. That's how he fought side by side with them." Martha gestured to the mask. "This is the gift. The spear is an earned memento."

As the group gapped at her, Martha folded up her arms again. "So. . .you want to find the ship. What do you plan to do once you get there?" She asked.

The group looked sheepish. "Haven't thought that far yet." Athena admitted for them. "We just know that we'll have to take the fighting somewhere else rather than the main area." Lex became disturbed by the giddy grin on her mother's face. "I suggest you blow it up." Martha casually said. When more shocked expressions were sent her way, Martha rose an eyebrow at her daughter in particular. "Did you forget I was a demolitions expert?" She softly smiled. "Why do you think your father found me attractive in the first place?"

Lex gaped at her mother in awe. "Are. . .are you saying you can make a bomb that can blow up an entire ship?!" She exclaimed.

Martha's grin grew proud as she pulled out a key from one of her pockets. "There's a second basement here that your father built purely for me. Guess what I use it for?" Lex didn't think her gaping mouth could get any wider. "You make bombs in the basement?!" "Hey, your father was paranoid that some day we'd have to defend ourselves with our lives. . .so yes, I built some in advance."

As her mother turned and walked away (Lex could have sworn she had a swagger in her steps), Athena elbowed Lex with a grin. "Dude-" She laughed. "Your mom is awesome!"

"I know." Lex grinned sheepishly back. They followed her mom down to the mysterious second basement.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- **lou-dte kales: Females/ child bearers**

- **oomans: humans**

- **sain'jas: Warriors**

- **Chivas: Trials**

- **Kiande Amedha: Hard meat/ xenomorphs**

 _I'm just going to give you an estimation here and say that this story will be ending in about three more chapters._

 _In preparation for that, I will be doing chapters for another story as well. This is not part two to this fanfiction, but I will be writing part two alongside my next one as well._

 _Thank you all for reading!_


	48. Fights Apart

"You think that's the ship?" Lex whispered as she and the other females (her mother included) hunched down in the cover the trees provided.

"No." Lucinda replied quietly beside her. "All of the fighting is happening here." She pulled out the map from one of their bags and opened it up to reveal the two dots they had placed on there. "So this is the ship that our friends come from." She scribbled out one of the dots on the map and pointed to the other one. "This one is the enemy ship."

The group leaned their heads in and peered at the map curiously while looking at the ship in front of them.

"I'll have to take this thing to their ship then." Athena said, having been the one designated with carrying the bomb over her shoulder. "And I'll have to go with you in order to set it up." Martha spoke up beside her. Lucinda bit her lip and looked at the carnage happening below before making a suggestion. "At least one of us should stay behind and watch this." She reluctantly said. "Just in case we need to warn the others of anything happening." Lex looked at Lucinda before gesturing to herself. "I'll stay behind." She offered. Lucinda placed a hand on Lex's arm and smiled. "I will too." She declared.

Athena shifted the weight of the bomb on her back and looked down at the two girls. "So you two will radio to us if anything goes wrong here?" Lex and Lucinda nodded at her while holding up their walkie talkies for emphasis. "You better do the same if anything goes wrong there." Lex replied. Athena nodded and Martha reached over and gave her daughter a hug. "You better be safe out here." She squeezed Lex. Lex squeezed her back as she let a moment of worry pass over her. "You too mom."

The group split up after that.

* * *

"Wolf, something's coming this way!" A nearby yautja hissed at him.

"I know. . ." Wolf darkly clicked back as his group of reinforcements gathered around him and raised their spears in preparation to attack. Their burners pointed in the direction of the noise as two creatures stumbled out of the underbrush. Wolf immediately recognized them as **oomans** and signaled for his group to lower their burners but to keep their spears ready.

When the two _oomans_ looked up, Wolf realized they were female and carrying heavy loads. Maybe they had been caught in the crossfire of the fight and had been fleeing?

As soon as Athena and Martha saw the group of yautja, they froze. They couldn't tell if these ones were friend or foe, though their armor looked similar in style to what their comrades wore. Athena saw their spears raised and inched closer to Martha's side. "Got a plan?" She whispered. Then she noticed Martha starring at the one in front, who seemed to hold himself as the leader of the group.

Said leader stepped forward and stared at them both before taking off his mask.

Neither of the two _oomans_ seemed surprised by the appearance of his face, and that possibly shocked Wolf more than anything. To see if this was genuine on their part, he spread his mandibles wide and roared at them. Neither flinched, in fact the tallest of the two seemed to hold herself up higher, reaching her full height which nearly came close to his. With a stony look in his eyes, he took a step towards them, separating himself from his group behind him. "Are you not afraid?" He suddenly spoke in their language. To his delight, this did shock them, but not for long. The tallest one looked like she was about to speak first, but the shorter one took a step forward. She was hesitant, but she was watching Wolf intently.

"You don't know me-" She said, confusing Wolf for a moment. "-but you knew my husband, once."

Martha suddenly bent down to her bag and pulled out the spear, holding it up high for him to see. His mandibles parted slightly and his eyes showed shock, but she didn't stop there. Bending over again, she pulled out the mask that she assumed was his. As soon as she pulled it out, Wolf stepped forward and grasped the armor piece, holding it closer to his face to see with his one good eye. His mandibles were now fully spread in shock and he looked back and forth between Martha and his old mask. His fellow humanoids behind him were making soft clicking sounds, and Martha assumed that it was the equivalent of human muttering for them.

Wolf lowered the mask and stared the **lou-dte kale** down. "I gave this mask to a worthy human male long ago. Where is he?" He demanded.

For a second, a pained look crossed the _ooman's_ expression and he suddenly wondered if he said the wrong thing. But then she shook herself and gave him a frown in return. "He's dead. . ." She softly said. "He died a long time ago." Her head slumped forward slightly as she looked at the floor and Wolf frowned at her. With a deep sigh rumbling in his chest, he held the mask back out to her. "You said you were his wife?" He voiced out. The _lou-dte kale_ looked up at him and nodded her head while accepting the mask back. "Yes." She replied. "I am his wife and we had two daughters together before he passed."

Wolf took this information in and stored it away for later while making a fist with his right hand and pounding it over his heart.

Martha saw the respect in his eyes as he looked at her. "Your husband was a warrior who I owe my life to." He said, causing the clicking noise from his companions behind him to increase. "If he is dead, then my debt passes on to you." At her raised eyebrow, he pressed on. "If you need me to, I will accompany you in whatever task you were about to do." He explained. Before the short one could speak, the tall one spoke first. "We were going to take this bomb over and blow up the other guy's ship."  
Wolf looked over and he was thoroughly surprised again when he really looked at the second _lou-dte kale_. While her height was impressive for a _ooman_ , the mark on her cheek is what surprised him the most. He stared at her mark as he spoke. "You are blooded?" The second _lou-dte kale_ nodded at him and she pointed at her mark for emphasis. "There's going to be a lot of stories to tell when this is all over." She barred her teeth at him, but Wolf learned long ago that that was their version of a smile and not a sign of aggression.

Wolf thumped his chest at her and nodded. "Indeed." He replied. "You said you had a bomb?" Athena nodded and gestured to the sac she had flung over her back. "She made it." The tall one gestured to the short one, who's face turned red from blood increase. This little _lou-dte kale_ was full of surprises.

With one swift movement, Wolf reached out and took the bomb off the tall one's shoulders and then placed it over his own. At the surprised look from the tall one, Wolf gestured to the short one. "If you are going towards our enemies, then I will help her with the bomb." He clicked. "Too many humans will cause problems if you wanted to do this on your own." While Athena wanted to snap at him for the insult he had clearly aimed at her species, she had to agree with him. Martha would probably be safer with him than with her. "I'll go back and help the others then." She sent a reassuring look towards Martha. "I'll find Lex and explain what's happened here."

While the _lou-dte kales_ exchanged talk, Wolf turned to his group behind him and rapidly clicked. "Follow the tall one to the battle grounds. I will accompany the short one to the enemy's vessel and help her sabotage them there." One of the older blooded warriors in the group stepped forward and gave Wolf a concerned look. "Forgive me for speaking against your decision-" He began. "But you are our strongest warrior here. Wouldn't it be best that you join the battle while someone else accompanies her?"  
Though irked that someone would question his decision, Wolf shook his head. "Destroying their ship will be just as important as fighting them. If they know this, then they will have left plenty of skilled fighters behind to guard their vessel. I can guard her against a few, but the rest of you are needed where the main fighting is happening."

He stepped forward and pointed at the tall _ooman_ while giving them all a stern look. "Go. Fight with honor in this battle and their shall be much glory tonight." The group gave respective bows to him before all turning to Athena, who took the hint. "You want me to take them there?" She asked Wolf. When Wolf simply nodded at her, she turned and immediately started running in the direction she and Martha had just come from. The yautja ran to catch up with her.

Once they were gone, Martha turned to the leader and sent him a soft smile. "Thank you, Wolf." She said.

His eyes widened as he looked back down at her in surprise. "You know my name?" He asked. Martha nodded her head. "My husband spoke fondly of you. He considered you a friend." When she said this, Wolf's eyes took on an expression that she couldn't quite place. "Well. . .if you know my name. . .I should know yours." He replied politely. She smiled at him before replying. "It's Martha." She said. "Martha Woods."

Wolf gave her a final nod before turning and leading the way in the direction of the enemy ship.

* * *

Lex couldn't stop Lucinda from doing what she just did. The small woman moved too fast for Lex to catch.

Lucinda had spotted Chopper get surrounded by the enemy humanoids. They could only tell they were enemies because of the blue garb they wore, unlike the black and gray garb that Chopper and his clan wore.  
Chopper had become surrounded by them and they had pinned his arms back behind him in the process. When a third enemy came up bearing a sharpened spear and pointing it at Chopper's throat, Lucinda acted without thinking.

Chopper saw the third yautja aiming his spear at him and braced himself for the killing blow to come.

Instead, what he found was his tiny mate jumping on the enemy's back and sticking a knife in the back of his throat before the enemy could even react. Both Chopper and his captors were stunned as they watched this tiny _ooman_ kill one of their own in the blink of an eye. Green **thwei** spilled to the floor as the yautja slumped to his knees and fell forward dead while Lucinda calmly stood up and gave a glare so sinister even Chopper was scared. To his surprise, she began to click in his language with perfect enunciation. "Let go of him. . . **now**. . ." Her face darkened.

Chopper would have told her how aroused she had just made him had it not been for a more pressing matter at hand, namely two enemy yautja that were now pissed at her.

"She killed **Thar'n-da**?!" One clicked with exclamation. "This little runt?!" Chopper's heart rate picked up a notch as he realized their focus was no longer on him. He felt their holds on his arms go slack as their gazes shifted. "You've got your burner on, shoot her!" The other one snapped. Just as the yautja on his left aimed his burner, Chopper sprung up and broke out of their hold while reaching for their faces. With surprising speed on his part, he grasped their mandibles and yanked them towards him, throwing their bodies and burners off balance. He felt some snaps as the bones in their mandibles broke in his tight hold, and he used their now useless limbs to smash their heads together. With a satisfying clank, the two yautja slid to the ground unconscious.

Chopper noticed that Lucinda wasted no time in rushing forward and using her knife to slit their throats. He was both proud and weary of her.

"Lucinda." He softly called her name. The small _lou-dte kale_ looked up at him from where she stood over the fallen. When he saw her expression, any possible anger he might have felt about her joining the battle went away. He held his arms out to her and she was about to run to him when another yautja grabbed her from behind.

"Hey!" She shouted, struggling to break free.

Chopper made a move to run to her aid when he was once again restrained from behind. With a cry of despair, he was yanked back while a fourth yautja came up and grabbed Lucinda's other side. Both of them were held back as a fifth enemy entered the group. The fifth one seemed to be a prominent leader and he was sending Lucinda a vicious glare. "This one killed the three?" He clicked. One of the yautja holding Lucinda gave her a vicious shake as he nodded. "She seems to care for that one." He inclined his head towards Chopper, who returned his gesture with a glare and a few choice words about his mother.  
The leader looked between Chopper and Lucinda before coming to a conclusion. "If she cares so much about him, kill him first. _Oomans_ are easy to break. She'll be helpless once he's gone."

The enemies cheered as they hoisted Chopper up higher and aimed their burners directly at his head.

When Lucinda saw this, she screamed. "No-" Suddenly, her head slumped as if she had been knocked out. The group stared at this dramatic display for a moment before one of the five spoke. "Well. . .she was easier to break than we thought."

"I suggest you let go of her if you want to keep your hands." Chopper suddenly clicked out, knowing exactly why Lucinda had slumped down. The leader glared at Chopper before sneering. "What? You have a secret weapon nearby?" He taunted. Chopper sent him a grin that was more sinister than anything. " **M-di.** She does."

One of the two yautja holding Lucinda suddenly cried out in pain as the group looked back at her and found that she had twisted his wrist so much that it broke. His grasp on her had slackened with his guard, and that was all she needed. Still blacked out, Lucinda's body acted on its own. With his grip on her gone, Lucinda whipped up her knife from the ground and stabbed the arm of the other yautja holding her. As he cried out in pain, Lucinda twisted the knife and completely severed his hand off before stabbing him through the chin and up towards his brain while he was hunched over. With a quick spin, she dispatched the first yautja similarly while he had been busy trying to grasp for his spear.

"Kill her!" The leader shouted.

When Chopper's two captors aimed their burners, Chopper shot up from the ground and twisted so their hold on him would break. When they released him, he shot his hands out and yanked their tresses back, pulling them off balance once more. Before he could do anything else though, Chopper noticed Lucinda fly out of nowhere and tackle one of his captors. They tussled on the floor for but a moment before green _thwei_ was spilled again and Lucinda was back on her feet and charging after the next one.  
Chopper took this time to face the leader.

The leader of that small band looked ashen as he watched this small _ooman_ wipe out his comrades. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was an _ooman_! A small one at that! Maybe a child? He didn't know.

While in his moment of shock, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by the yautja that he had been ready to kill moments before.

Chopper pinned the leader to the ground and didn't bother with fancy words as he brought his spear around and shoved the tip into the leader's chest. The enemy gave one final gasp of breath before slumping down and giving no more movement.  
When Chopper stood up, he looked behind to find Lucinda had finished off the last of the five and was standing over her kill, completely motionless. Chopper cautiously moved towards her, purposefully making sounds with his steps so as not to startle her.

With careful movement, Chopper knelt down in front of her but kept his hands to himself. With a frown, he spoke her name. "Lucinda?"

The small but powerful woman looked up at him, and Chopper could see that she was shocked. He half expected her to fall to the ground unconscious again when her arms were suddenly flung around his neck. Lucinda hugged him close and held him like her life depended on it. "You're alive!" She gasped out, tears falling down her cheeks. Chopper was blown into shock by her behavior, but quickly slipped his mask off and put it on her before speaking. "Me? You just wiped out seven yautja and you're worried if I'm alright?!"  
Lucinda didn't respond verbally, but she did go back to hugging him tightly. Chopper sighed and picked her up in his arms while tucking her close. "You **hulij-bpe** _lou-dte kale_." Chopper softly clicked, but it held nothing but affection for her. "I'd get mad at you for coming to the fight right now if I wasn't so concupiscent by your actions."  
Lucinda suddenly let out a laugh when Chopper said this and handed him the mask back. Chopper slipped it on and Lucinda grinned at him. "So me fighting is a turn on for you?" She asked. Chopper gave the mask back before replying. "Yes. And now I really want this war over just so I can drag you somewhere quiet and rut with you until you're swimming in my sap." Chopper's mandibles lifted in a grin as he heard Lucinda gasp from behind his mask. She suddenly took the mask off and placed it over his face as quickly as she could. "Promise?" She asked.

Chopper nodded and Lucinda let out a hysterical laugh in the middle of the battle field.

* * *

Martha gapped at the alien ship that was laying inert in front of her.

Wolf stood by, visibly less impressed by the vessel. He watched the _lou-dte kale_ scan the ship with her eyes and then looked back at the ship himself. The guards were stationed around the vessel's entrance and were scanning the forest casually like they didn't expect anyone showing up. While Wolf internally chided their foolishness, he knew it was their only chance of sneaking in. If they turned their heat vision in their masks on, they'd be discovered and would probably not succeed in this mission.

He shifted the bomb on his back once before Martha gently nudged his side. He looked down to find her pointing at the vessel.

"We can circle around and then climb on the ship itself. That way we can drop down from above into the entrance instead of trying to get through these guys." She planned. Wolf found her plan sound and the pair moved silently away from their spot and around to the side of the ship. It had flattened sides that made it easy for this particular climb as Martha and Wolf lifted themselves up and onto the ship. Silently, they climbed the metal air craft until they reached the opening of the entrance again. The guards hadn't looked back at them, and Wolf used this opportunity to slide down to the ramp below and then reach up to help Martha down as well. She was a lot squishier than he expected, and he nearly lost his grip on her because of it when she slid down. They ducked into the entrance and slowly made their way in.

"Where's the best place to put this thing?" Martha whispered.

Wolf was scanning the halls for threats when he answered her. "The center of the ship. That's where their supply storage and power source will be." He answered back, not able to whisper as well as her. They moved slowly as they talked. "Think you can guide me there?" She asked. Wolf gave a silent nod, though he wasn't watching to see if she had caught it. "Put the mask on." He suddenly said. "The less you look like a human, the better." Martha nodded and did as she was told.

They moved on, hoping not to run into anybody.

* * *

Athena led the group to the battle as she scanned for Lex and Lucinda amongst the trees.

She spotted Lex, but no Lucinda. As Athena made her way towards Lex, the group of yautja with her broke off and jumped in to join the fight across from them. Athena pumped her arms and legs to reach Lex. She skidded to a halt besides the woman and breathed hard, making it difficult to speak. "Where's Lucinda?!" She gasped out.

Lex shook her head and pointed at the battle field. "She ran out to help Chopper. What about my mother, where is she?!" Lex gasped.

Athena pointed with her thumb over her shoulder in the direction she had just come from. "Remember the alien your mom said your father fought with?" Lex nodded her head, staring at Athena. "Well we found him-" Athena carried on. "-and he's taking your mother to the ship to help her blow it up. Apparently he owes your father a debt."

Lex stared at her while Athena looked out towards the battle field. "You said Lucinda went in there to fight?" "Yes." Lex replied, shaking herself out of her shock. Athena reached behind her back and brought out the knife she had brought from the kitchen. "Let's go join her then. Heaven knows what she's getting into right now." Lex bit her lip and nodded her agreement before pulling out her own knife.

The two charged into the fray.

* * *

 _Author's note: Translation time!_

- **oomans** : humans

- **lou-dte kale:** Female/child bearer

- **thwei:** blood

- **Thar'n-da:** strength

- **M-di:** no

- **hulij-bpe:** crazy

 _Two more chapters left until the end!_

 _So a couple of things here. First off, I have already started writing a second AvP fanfiction. No it is not the second book to this story, but that will be happening soon. To all of my readers on , this story is only on my Wattpad account at the moment. So if you want to get an early start reading it, go on ahead and jump in. I won't be posting that story to my account until I finish this one first. The story is called "(AvP Fanfiction) Of Monsters, Magic and Miracles".  
Of Monsters, Magic and Miracles takes place with Machiko Noguchi and the original story plot made for the Alien versus Predator universe._

 _Well that's all I can think of for now, so I hope you all enjoyed reading this! Let me know what you thought in the comments below._


	49. The Final

When Lex and Athena jumped out of the bushes, Scar nearly felt his heart drop.

Celtic was too far away on the field to see them, but Scar knew how his ****Chiva mei'hswei**** would react to this if Celtic saw his mate out here. He had to stop them!  
Scar battled his way through the crowd to get to the ****hulij-bpe lou-dte kales**** , but that was easier said than done. If it wasn't a yautja from the enemy clan trying to spar with him, it was a member of his own clan getting in his way! With every inch forward he would take, he was forced back five more.

For a moment he thought about just blasting his way through the crowd, regardless of who's clan got caught in the crossfire. Turns out, he didn't have to.

Lex had made her way to him instead.  
Lex had an average height for a woman, but that made her still significantly smaller than the humanoids around her. Thanks to this fact, she could slip through them more easily than Athena could. The two lost each other in the chaos, but Lex's attention was on Scar in this battle. She needed to make her way to his side. Their alliance in the pyramid had created a bond for them that she refused to let break, and so she decided that fighting by his side once again was her top priority here. As well as keeping him alive, of course.  
Lex could see him struggling to make his way through the crowd. His direction had been aimed at her, so she assumed that he had spotted her and had intended to at least meet her halfway. He was having no luck on his end, so Lex decided that she'd cut her own path to him instead.

Sadly, she did not have the same abilities as a yautja. Where they could identify each other by scent, Lex could only identify them by sight.

Lex wanted to help with this fight, but she couldn't do it unless she identified who Scar's enemies were. Thankfully, she did notice a detail before joining this battle. Both sides had different styled armor. All it took was one look at Scar's style of armor to recognize who his companions were. Thanks to this, she knew who to attack. She didn't intend to full on kill the enemy. That would grab too much attention. Instead, she aimed to hinder them.  
As she made her way to Scar, she crouched low and used her knife to slice the calves of the enemy clan. If they were engaged in battle, this would cause them to lose focus and be killed by members of Scar's clan. If they weren't already in battle, then Lex could hurry away from the area when they'd turn around to inspect their wounds.

The next time she looked up to see where Scar was on the field, she saw to her horror that five enemies had ganged up on him and were trying to corner him against a rocky wall from the mountain.

No longer bothering to be discreet, she dashed towards him. As she ran through the crowd, her knife would flash out and slash any obvious enemies she could spot out of the corner of her eye. Their prior engagements took up all of their focus until it was too late to notice her. Green neon blood coated her blade to the point were it was almost soaking her hand as well. Confusion in the crowd grew as their mysterious attacker couldn't be spotted just below their line of sight and mashing bodies.

Scar was in a panic. His attempt at trying to just bully his way through the masses to get to Lex had drawn the attention of five rivaling yautja who all turned to fight him. He was herded back until he had hit a rocky and steep wall behind himself.

The five glared at him as they raised their spears to attack him.

Scar whipped his own spear up and blocked the first blow that came at him. He knocked the spear tip away and parried the second attack into the rock wall behind him. The third spear caught him in the thigh. Green _thwei_ flowed down his muscular leg as he staggered back when that leg gave out. He barely dodged the fourth blow when he spotted Lex coming in fast over the shoulder of one of the five. He had barely a second to react when the fifth one jammed a spear into his shoulder; the same one that had been stabbed back in the pyramid and was still recovering. Scar roared out in pain, but his attention was arrested from it when one of the five also gave a screech of pain. The group turned and spotted the ****ooman**** behind them with a bloody knife. While the five were distracted, Scar shook off the shock and took this opportunity to stab the one that had gotten him in the shoulder. It went through his flesh and into his heart through his back. A poor choice of ****'awu'asa**** design to leave the back exposed.

One of the five went down and the four remaining turned their attention again on Scar when they realized one of their ranks was dead. Lex took this opportunity to once again attack from behind.

Like a dance, Lex and Scar would take turns attacking when the enemies would make the mistake of not focusing their attention on just one. Their rhythm of motions were synced with non-verbal cues as to when it was the best time to attack. Neither wasted the other's opportunity that they had created.  
This deadly dance went on until only one was left. This one had finally gotten out of his back-and-forth attention span and had made a desperate move. He aimed his spear at Scar while his burner whipped around to target onto Lex. He made a very wrong calculation. All it took was seeing the three red dots aimed at Lex's chest for Scar to fly into a rage. Neglecting the spear aimed at him, Scar hurled himself at the enemy yautja just as he heard the telltale whirring of their burner about to fire. Thanks to the tackle, the burner missed and shot off into the sky just above Lex's head. Scar tussled with the yautja on the floor until he had him viciously pinned. Looking up at Lex, all it took was one nod from him for her to dive in and deliver the finishing blow.

The enemy yautja's mandibles twitched several times before never moving again.

Lex and Scar looked up at each other triumphantly. Lex's smile was bright and full of relief and Scar gave her a grin to match, even if it did look a little weird on him. Then Lex noticed the broken spear shaft jutting out of his hip and her smile dropped. Scar's did too when he saw the new look on her face, but he didn't know why she was frowning. Lex pointed at his torso and screeched something at him in her language, but his helmet had been knocked off long ago. He didn't know what she had said, but one look down at himself and he suddenly had a very good guess as to what she said. The pain came as a sudden shock and Scar stumbled backwards as the sensation of stinging and throbbing came rushing at him. His mandibles opened wide in a gasp and he grabbed the spear shaft instinctively. This just made the pain worse, but he didn't let go.

Lex came forward and crashed on her knees to his side. She reached out as if to touch the broken spear, but kept her hands back just in case.

They locked eyes and Scar saw Lex bite the flesh that covered her mouth before she gently reached out and grasped the shaft. She made hand motions to him and Scar realized what she wanted to do. She wanted them both to pull out the spear together. He nodded at her to confirm that he understood and he wrapped his hands tighter around the spear. At the count of three from Lex's hands, they both yanked at the spear as hard as they could.

Scar gave a blood-curdling yell of pain once the broken weapon popped out.

Lex shot her hands forward to cover the wound that began to profusely bleed. Scar's significantly larger hands covered hers as he attempted to stop the blood flow too. For several minutes, neither of them moved as they applied pressure to the wound. While Scar focused on staunching the pain and blood, Lex turned her head around to watch the battle around them. She kept watching for any possible attacks from the enemy humanoids who could spot them in this vulnerable position. None came to attack them, thankfully.

It felt like hours later when Scar finally took his hands off of Lex's and gently moved her wrist away so he could inspect the wound.

It was deep, but their efforts managed partially slow the flow of blood. Lex looked up at Scar to find him reaching for his wrist gauntlet. His moves were shaky, so she helped him along by steadying his hand. With a few clicks on the strange buttons, Scar opened up the gauntlet's interior and reached inside. Lex saw him pull out a blue vial and remembered what Lucinda had told her about the stuff. It was supposed to heal them, in a way. Lex saw him reaching for the portable fire kit and she reached out to stop him. "I'll do it." She said.

Scar tilted his head at her, but didn't do anything to stop her as she reached forward and finished the task he had been about to do.

With Lex treating his wounds, it didn't hurt as much.

* * *

Wolf and Martha weren't having much luck on their end either.

What had appeared to possibly be a neglected ship was actually full of ambushes. Accidental ones, but still hinderances.  
They had run into patrols along the way and Wolf had to work to take them out. Since he was engaging in most of the fighting, Martha took the bomb back. She had it slung over her shoulder while Wolf took out their opponents. He was pretty darn skillful even if he was old. Martha assumed he was old anyway. He looked like he had aged a bit from when her husband and him had taken that photo together.

Wolf was breathing hard when he felt the accompanying _ooman's_ hand on his shoulder.

He turned his head to find a look of concern in her eyes. "Are you hurt?" She asked. Wolf slowly shook his head, causing his dreads to slap together behind him. He looked down at her from his towering height. "No. . .that one was a novice. We may not be so fortunate next time." He replied, his voice so low Martha had a hard time hearing. In response to his doom filled response, Martha swung her spear up to her side and wielded it clumsily, much to Wolf's notice. "I'll try and help with the fighting as much as I can." She declared. "Though I don't know how much damage I could possibly do to one of your kind."

Her self doubt was blatantly obvious and Wolf wanted to cuff the side of her **syra'yte** like he would a pup for showing it. Self doubt left room for error worse than overconfidence did, some of the time. If she did not have the courage to wield the spear, even if incorrectly, she'd surely be a weakness to this mission. He could not scold her for it though. Not only was she the mate of his past _ooman_ comrade, she was a **pyode amedha**. He had to consider the fact that she was raised differently than him. She would not understand his reprimand like a pup from their own clan would. He did not need this mission jeopardized due to a miscommunication.

He decided that if they lived through this, he would teach her the proper way to wield a spear, and only if they had time.

Less than a few minutes after he had these thoughts, they came upon a party of three this time.

Wolf immediately went to engage them, hoping to keep them away from the _lou-dte kale_. He didn't trust her in a fight.  
Sadly for him, one slipped past his attack and ducked under his arm. The yautja aimed to kill Wolf from behind while his two other companions engaged him from the front. Just as he rose his head from the crouched position he had taken to duck under wolf, his forehead was met with the sharp end of another spear.

Martha glared at the crab like face as she thrust the spear deep into his skull and watched him die. She had seen him begin to duck under Wolf's raised arm and had the idea of surprising him when he'd eventually get back up.

She knew she would be no good in a full on hand-to-hand battle, but maybe she could pick them off since Wolf had their full attention.

The other two didn't notice their third brother fall behind Wolf. The old veteran in front of them was keeping them too preoccupied at the moment. The elder was fast with his blows and rained attacks down on them too quickly for them to fully recover from. At the moment, their sole focus was on defense as they waited for the eventuality of this respected yautja to tire out and slip up.

All three yautja didn't notice the one human sneaking around their fight. They only noticed when one of the two enemies suddenly gave a gurgling cry of pain as a spear was thrust through his neck from the back and out through his mouth. Both Wolf and the other yautja turned their attention on Martha with open mandibled shock as she yanked the spear out from behind the dead yautja's neck. The dead one fell to the floor and green _thwei_ pooled around him as Martha took up a fighting stance and faced the last remaining enemy.

The final one shook with both disbelief and grief as he stared at his companions on the floor, now noticing that the first one had been killed as well.

"Y-y-you managed to kill them?!" He clicked so fast it caused him to slightly stutter. Martha didn't understand anything that he had just said, or if it was even a language he was clicking at her. But she glared at him anyway and raised her spear in a threatening manor.  
Although Wolf was impressed, he knew he had to finish the task. Shaking himself out of his shock, he stepped behind the still stunned yautja and raised his spear.

The enemy yautja took a step towards Martha and flicked out his wrist blades. "You bit-" He didn't get to finish.

Martha watched the final one drop and then looked up at Wolf with a blank face. This wasn't her first time taking a life. She was a bomb maker, after all. But she'd never had to do close range combat before.  
She didn't know how she felt about that.

Wolf on the other hand, looked at her with a new found respect that wasn't there before. "You fight like him." He said with an almost reverent tone.

Martha blinked at him and then tilted her head. "Who?" She asked. Wolf pointed at the bodies on the floor and then at her. "Your husband. You fight like he did. He was clever too, and had a way of keeping the **kiande amedha** occupied before he dealt the finishing blow." To Wolf's surprise, he saw this _ooman_ give him a smile. It was small, but still there. "Him and I worked together well like that." She simply said.

Wolf nodded his head once in a respectful manor before repositioning his spear by his side. "We must go. An alarm will sound soon if these bodies are discovered."

Martha nodded once and the two started running towards their goal, no longer being discreet.

* * *

All Celtic felt was a quick slap on his butt before the yautja in front of him was suddenly stabbed with a small knife from an arm that had suddenly appeared on his left.

"Athena!?" He shouted in surprise as his mate finished off his opponent before an actual fight had even begun. All he saw for a moment was a grin that he was pretty sure was supposed to be teasing before he heard a reply. "Hey babe!" She exclaimed before swiping her knife out and catching another yautja in the belly hard. Celtic followed her example and stabbed the wounded yautja in the head before it had a chance to recover from her blow. Celtic whirled around to look for her only to find her engaging head on with another enemy. He quickly jumped to her defense and they finished off the yautja in record time thanks to their combined efforts. A third started running at them when Celtic roared. "What are you doing here?!" Athena swept her knife out and barely deflected the edge of the oncoming spear before dodging away and answering. "I can't understand you Celtic. You've got the mask!"

Celtic wanted to curse himself and her at that moment. Great! All they needed was communication problems right now!

Celtic stabbed the yautja in front of them and whirled on Athena. "Athena, here!" He tried to hand her his mask right when an explosion in the distance went off. A show of light went off into the air and a booming noise defended the field of fighting for a long minute. The fighting instantly stopped and all turned to look at the spectacle off in the distance. For a moment, everyone was too stunned to move or make noise. Then one yautja clicked his mandibles loud enough to be heard throughout the crowd. "That's right where our ship is!"

The confusion caught the entire crowd accept for three human girls on the field.

Athena quickly slipped the mask back over Celtic's face and leaned over to kiss his jaw line while no one was looking. "I'll need you to translate for me." She said, then quickly turned away before he had a chance to respond. She rose to her full height and even stood on her toes before shouting out to the crowd. "Your ship is destroyed!"

Now the crowd turned to face her. She could tell Celtic was stunned by what she had said as well, so she repeated herself.

"Your ship is destroyed! We sent someone ahead with a bomb to blow it up!" She looked down at Celtic and he finally gathered his thoughts enough to do as she had asked. He rapidly clicked behind his mask at the crowd of two clans, loud enough for all of them to here. Athena couldn't understand what he was saying, but she knew he was doing what she'd asked. When he was done and looked back at her, she continued. "You now have two choices!" She waited for Celtic to finish clicking. "You can either all be killed now or surrender to . . .Yeyinde's clan and possibly be spared." Celtic rapidly clicked off her response and an angry protest immediately arose from the enemy clan.

Before Athena could open her mouth, she spotted Lucinda standing up on a rock and shouting out as well. Chopper joined her. " **SHUT UP!** " She hollered. It didn't take a translator to know that she had called for quiet. She glared at the group before continuing. "Your numbers are significantly less than ours now!" She shouted. Chopper did the translating for her this time. "Do you think you will win this if you keep on fighting?!" Chopper clicked again and then Lex decided to join the conversation.

She stood up on a rock as well and looked over the crowd. "My mother is an expert bomb maker among my kind!" She watched as the crowd now turned to look at her as she spoke. Scar struggled to stand and Lex reached down to offer him a steady hand as he used her as a support. He quickly clacked her words back to them and the remaining enemy clan looked at her with disbelief. She continued as soon as Scar was done. "Your ship is in pieces, I can guarantee that to you now." She nodded her head in the direction of the explosion. "You have no way home but through Yeyinde's clan. You're side is low enough that we could wipe you all out now if we chose."

The enemies all glared at Lex after Scar was done translating to them. Athena finished it off when she saw the hostility rising in Lex's direction. "Choose wisely!" She shouted. "I know Yeyinde will not be so gracious towards you if you choose to die thoughtlessly for your pride."

After she said this, heads turned in search of Yeyinde as well.

They spotted him. He was cutting through the crowd and making his way over to the girls and his pupils. He had fresh wounds all over his body, but he walked with pride and grace. No one stopped him as he took his place atop of the rocks as well. He looked out at the two clans with a serious expression in his eyes. "I am the ancient one in my clan." He clicked, his tone holding nothing but authority that demanded the crowd's respect. "What they speak is true. I will give you one small mercy to live if you surrender now. But if you still choose to fight, I will make sure none of you get to claim that you died honorably." He let them process his threat before continuing. "Choose now, before I lose all patience and just have you slaughtered."

Immediately, weapons began to drop. Despite the yautja having a code of honor, this clan did not live by it. They let their cowardice and thievery blind them, so they did not mind letting it blind them now.

Yeyinde was pleased to see that they had chosen to surrender instead.

* * *

Martha stared in shock as she and Wolf took cover amongst the trees away from the explosion's range.

She couldn't help but shout. "It didn't blow up?!"  
It was true, the ship was still intact, if not mildly scorched. Smoke rose in a ring around the ship from the perimeter of the explosion. Trees and shrubbery were all ashes now, but the ship was still whole. Martha couldn't believe that the hunk of mettle had survived a bomb. One of **her** bombs too! Her lip quivered as the reality of this settled on her. "We. . .failed. . ." She hung her head.

Wolf on the other hand, could see things that she couldn't thanks to his heat vision. "We did not fail." He declared.

Martha looked back up at him as he pointed at the scorched ship with one clawed finger. "You managed to kill everyone inside." He stated. "As well as burn up their supplies and equipment." He looked down at her from behind his helmet and watched her gaze on him. "You still succeeded in what you had come to do."

Martha gapped at him and then looked back at the damage she had down in front of them. She bit her lip with a frown.

"They still have a ship." She replied. "Couldn't they escape with that still? Even a desperate one?" Wolf shook his head and gestured at the wreckage again. "You damaged it enough on the inside. It will no longer fly." Martha stared at the sight before Wolf placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her around. "We must return to the battlefield." He said. "They will still be fighting and will need our help." Martha shook herself out her trance and nodded. "Right." she replied. She needed to return back to her daughter!

Wolf turned and began to almost jog in the direction of the field, Martha straining to keep up.

* * *

Lex turned around at the exact moment her mother had exited the trees.

She ran to her mom and hugged her, glad she was safe. Martha hugged her daughter back in a tight embrace that nearly crushed her bones. Lex let out a strained laugh as she and her mother let go to look at each other. "I was so worried." Lex said. Martha gave her daughter a stunned expression before it turned into one of indignation. "You?! How do you think I feel? Knowing my daughter is out here fighting." Martha hugged Lex again before Wolf stepped up behind her. He tilted his head at the second _lou-dte kale_ and waited for them to be done with their moment before speaking. "This is. . .your spawn?" He asked. Martha suddenly laughed at his question before nodding her head. "Yes! This is my daughter Lex." She answered before gesturing at Wolf. "Lex, this is Wolf. . .the one your father fought alongside with."

A strange expression entered Lex's eyes as she turned her head to look at the humanoid.

A deep respect filled her being as she faced Wolf and bowed her head respectfully at him. "Thank you. . .for saving my father." She said. In truth, she had no idea if Wolf had actually saved her father or not. But he didn't kill her father, so she was at least grateful for that. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to find Wolf staring down at her. "It is I who should be thanking your father." He said.

Lex couldn't help but give a soft smile at him when she heard her friends coming over to them.

Scar, Chopper, Lucinda, Athena and Celtic all walked over to where Lex was with her mother and another yautja. As soon as the three boys saw who it was, they dropped into humble bows before him. "Wolf." They called his name in respectful greeting. Wolf turned and acknowledged them as Yeyinde approached the group as well.

As Wolf and Yeyinde exchanged greetings, the ancient turned to the group and spoke. "It seems we will have to stay here even longer."

The boys rose their heads and stared at him while the girls just rose their eyebrows curiously. Yeyinde went on to explain. "The enemy did significant damage to our ship." He pointed at the vessel nearby. "We will not be able to lift it off of the ground until it is repaired."

Martha looked at the ship with a critical eye before speaking up. "Will you be needing new parts?" She asked.

Yeyinde turned and nodded at her while Martha couldn't help herself but to grin at him. "I think I know where you can get some."

* * *

Scar walked alongside Lex as they ventured out into the wilderness together. No hunting this time, just walking.

Repairs on the ship had begun as soon as Lex's mother had showed Yeyinde the now vacant enemy vessel. They were taking the good parts from that ship and trying to get them to fit on their own. It was estimated to be another three weeks before they could actually attempt to get their ship in the air again.

The boys were ordered to stay out of the way. They had no knowledge on ship maintenance and would just get in the way. The three newly blooded warriors didn't mind this one bit.

While Lex had a happy step in her walk, Scar looked troubled. He kept staring at the floor and would only look up when Lex would tell him to duck under a tree branch. After a long while, Lex got fed up with his silence. "Scar." she called out. He was still wearing his mask, so he couldn't pretend like he couldn't hear her. He turned his head in her direction and she folded her arms and stopped walking. "What's wrong?" She asked him softly. Scar could tell by her stance that she wasn't going to move until he spoke his thoughts.

For a while, neither moved nor spoke. Lex just patiently waited until Scar finally got the courage to speak.

When he did, he sighed and handed the mask over. This would take too long to try and type it out to her. Lex took the mask and slipped it over her face. When she did, Scar stared at the floor and softly clicked his mandibles. "I thought I was going to lose you today. . ." When Lex didn't respond or react, he continued. "I nearly passed out as soon as I saw you join the fight. Do you have any idea of how scared I was? Lex, if I lost you, then-" He was suddenly stopped by Lex rushing forward and hugging him. Baffled by her behavior, Scar stared down at her as Lex squeezed her arms around him tightly. She didn't give him a chance to react further as she released one arm from the hug and handed him the mask. Scar reluctantly put it on and Lex looked up at him with misty eyes as she spoke. "I was just as scared of losing you, Scar." She said.

Scar looked at her with shock as Lex wiped at her eyes that were barely beginning to shed tears. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." She sniffed. "You think I was going to let you fight out there alone? No! I wouldn't be able to sit behind at the house and wait. I'd be filled with so much anxiety that I would have done something reckless. . ." She let her sentence drop and to her surprise, Scar tilted his head back and let out a rapid clicking noise behind the mask. He was laughing. Lex tilted her head at him and frowned. "What's so funny?" She demanded, drying her eyes.

Scar stopped his chuckling and handed the mask back before answering. "Reckless? What could be more reckless than you just stepping into a war?"

Lex couldn't help it. She laughed as well. The pair of them giggled for several minutes until it died down to something softer. As the tension between them relaxed, Lex felt like this was the right time to tell him.  
As they looked at each other, Lex reached up and grasped the sides of Scar's head after slipping the mask onto him. Scar waited for her to speak, but he wasn't expecting what came out of her mouth next. "Scar-" He shivered at the way she said his name. Lex bit her lip and continued. "I'm yours. . ."

For a moment, Scar let the implications of her words roll over him before letting a small seed of hope blossom in his chest. He quickly handed the mask back to her before clicking. "You mean, as in you want to be my mate?"

When Lex saw the hopeful look in his eyes, she smiled behind the mask and nodded at him. She gave the mask back.

"Yes. I would like for us to officially be mates now." Scar felt his breathing halt as he took off the mask and handed it back. The anticipation was now rising in him. "Lex, if you choose to be my mate. . .that means we'd actually. . .you know, would have to mate. . .right here, right now." Much to his surprise and aroused delight, Lex took a step back and started unbuttoning her shirt. She stopped only when the tops of her breasts were fully exposed for his view and then she let her arms drop to her sides. She handed the mask over and took a deep, almost nervous breath.

"I'm ready."

* * *

Lex lay on her back completely naked with her legs spread wide and shaking from the experience she had just gone through.

Her breathing was labored and so was Scar's, who laid next to her and was shaking just as much, though his breathing wasn't as tired as hers. Lex turned her head and looked at him as sweat dripped from her brow. She reached up with a shaking arm and slipped the mask over his face as he turned to look at her as well. "A little warning. . .would have been nice. . .about how big you were." She panted.

Scar let out a chuckle at her words and felt his ego swell a little before typing into his gauntlet that had been flung to the side in the heat of their mating.

"Hhoww. . . .ddo. . .yyou. . .ffeelll?" He asked. Lex tried to quell her panting long enough to answer. "I feel a bit like a hypocrite." She chuckled. When Scar cocked his head at her, she went on to explain. "Only a couple days ago, . . I said let's take this slow. . . Now here we are." She couldn't help but laugh. "So much for slow."  
Scar leaned over and nuzzled her cheek before slipping off the mask and placing it on her. He could hear her heavy breathing even from behind the metal. "As you can probably tell-" He clicked in amusement. "I don't like to take things slow."  
Her little giggling that she did made him raise his upper mandibles in a smile at her. Then with a more mischievous look, he reached over and gently trailed a talon over her exposed and perked milk gland, causing her to squeak at the sensation. He leaned his head over closer and trailed a mandible down her cheek. "Think you can handle a second time?"

Seeing her legs spread apart and still dripping from their first session made him crave her once more. He desired nothing more than to roll over onto her and thrust himself into her once again.

Lex gave an indignant sigh before handing him the mask. "Give me a minute. . .to recover." She panted still. "I wasn't expecting you to be that good in that short amount of time." Scar hoisted himself up onto his elbow and handed her the mask before leaning over her with an almost predatory look. "I can make it last longer next time, if you wish." He purred.

Lex gasped and set the mask on him while giving him a lustful look of her own. She leaned up and kissed his chin. "Please do." She whispered.

Scar threw the mask off to the side once more.

* * *

Chopper carried Lucinda in his arms all the way back to the house.

A feeling of peace washed over him. The war was over and his tiny mate was safe from harm once more. Well, as safe as it could get around him and his kind. He now had to be careful with his clan around the area. Lucinda also knew to be careful and thankfully kept Chopper's cuddling advances at bay until they were out of sight from his fellow kin. She didn't allow him to pick her up until they were well away from the battle scene.

Once inside the house, Chopper repositioned Lucinda against him and carried her up to their room.

He set her on the bed before sitting down next to her and pulled her to his side so he could hold her once more. Lucinda reached up and stroked the underside of his jaw. She'd normally aim for his mandibles or even the divot between his eyes, but he had the mask on at the moment. Chopper tilted his face further towards her hand and purred in content before typing into his gauntlet.

"I. . . .think. . . . . .they. . . . .like. . . .you. . . .now. . . ." He slowly said.

Lucinda tilted her head and rose an eyebrow. "Who?" She asked. Chopper pointed out the window before typing into his gauntlet again. "My. . . . .clan. . . . .You fought. . . ... bravely. . . . .They. . . .respect. . . .you. . . . .now. . . ." Lucinda shifted around to look at Chopper more clearly before responding. "They didn't like me before?" She asked. Chopper shook his head and typed into a gauntlet, but this time a holographic video popped up. Chopper hit a button that Lucinda assumed was their version of a play button, and the video started up. It was the recording of her time in the pyramid and how she had killed those black alien bug things.

Lucinda now understood what he meant. "Oh! Are you trying to say that they won't think my fighting in the pyramid was a fluke now?" She asked.

Chopper nodded and let out a happy trill from knowing that she understood. Lucinda smiled at him and nudged his hand. "Good, I don't exactly want to fight any of them if they decided to test me that way." She gave off a chuckle at the thought. Chopper clicked his mandibles in a laugh as well, and then reached out and grasped her hand. ". . . .Sleep? . . ." He asked. Lucinda nodded and yawned. "Yeah. I'm pretty tired now." Chopper pulled her closer once she was done yawning and laid down with her in his arms. He pulled the covers up and over them before tucking Lucinda under his chin and closing his eyes.

It was a nice, peaceful night for them.

* * *

Athena and Celtic staggered into their own room late that night.

Immediately after the war, Celtic had grown hungry. Athena knew they didn't have much left at the house, so she took him out hunting. Celtic was quick and effective when it came to the smaller prey, and he didn't bother cooking them up like Athena had for her portions. The benefit of being a natural carnivore, she guessed.

Now they were back at the house and bone tired. Athena just wanted to take a shower and go to bed.

Celtic had gone straight for the mattress, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Athena veer towards the bathroom. "Athena." He called out. Athena turned and rose an eyebrow at him and he handed over his mask to her. "Are you going to sleep?" He asked. Athena nodded and gave the mask back before replying. "Yeah, I just need a shower first. I stink." Celtic tilted his head at her and switched the mask over. "May I join you?" He asked. He didn't feel like being the first in bed tonight.  
Athena nodded at him and opened the bathroom door. Celtic stepped in with her and both helped each other undress before stepping into the tub.

As the water came down, Athena turned around and hugged him. "I love you." She muttered. She sounded emotionally tired.

Celtic tilted his head and hugged her back as the water pooled at their feet. They had left the mask out on the side of the tub, but Celtic decided that getting it a little wet wouldn't hurt. He bent over to grab it, giving Athena a full view of his bottom. An idea came to mind and she couldn't help but grin to herself as Celtic stood back up. He saw the look on her face and placed the mask over her head. "I know that look." He clicked. "You're aroused, aren't you?" Athena chuckled from behind the mask and gave it back. "Yes, and if you don't mind, I'd like to try something on you." She said. Celtic tilted his head curiously at her and Athena pointed her finger at him. "Turn around and face the wall please."  
Though a bit nervous from not knowing what she was going to do, Celtic did as she asked. He turned around and placed his hands against the bathtub wall.

The next thing he knew, his butt was being fondled by his mate's firm yet soft hands.

He let out a clack of pleasured surprise and Athena took that as a good sign. She leaned up closer to his head while still groping his cheeks. "You like that?" She asked. Celtic was in a bit of a euphoric daze, but he managed to vaguely nod at her. Athena smirked. "Good!" She suddenly gave his cheeks a tight squeeze before lightly palming the middle of his bottom. "Because it's my turn to pleasure you this time."

Celtic found out just how kinky humans could be that night.

* * *

The day after the war, Wolf had taken Martha out to train her on the basics of using a spear.

He had opted out of repairing the ship. As much as they needed the hands, he honestly wasn't that good with repair tools. He'd never admit it, but he wasn't good at fixing things. He had nearly burned his own home down once trying to repair a simple chair. He decided from then on to just quietly let the experts deal with things. His specialty was fighting.

And boy did Martha find that out quick.

By the fourth time he had managed to knock her down, she had grown frustrated with herself and partially at him. Her attacks became more sporadic and clumsy as she let her emotions get a hold of her. Wolf shook his head at her again and waited for her to rise to her feet once more before chiding her. "You were nearly flawless yesterday. Why do you not show your grace now?" He demanded. Martha sighed and dusted herself off before replying. "Yesterday I was aiming to kill, so I didn't have to hold myself back. You, on the other hand, I have to make sure that I'm not attacking hard enough to accidentally injure too much." Wolf tilted his head at her curious reply. "You do not attack me because you do not wish to hurt me?" He asked in mild surprise. Martha nodded. "It's kind of a human thing. Sorry." She shrugged.  
Wolf decided that he'd have to come back to this planet again in the future to train her some more. One month on this world wasn't going to be enough time to fix that ' _human thing_ ' of hers.

Wolf picked up his spear and motioned for her to do the same. "Again."

* * *

Repairs took longer than they had expected, but the end still came. It was time for the yautja to go home.

While the rest of the clan piled onto the ship, Scar, Celtic and Chopper stayed behind at the house to say their final goodbyes. None of them wanted to go, and found it harder than they thought possible to leave. Each were in their respective rooms, giving each other their privacy.

Celtic wouldn't let go of Athena, and Athena couldn't stop kissing his face and hugging him to herself.

"I don't want to go." He mumbled into her neck as his eyes stung. He wore the mask at the moment, so Athena couldn't tell what he had said, but she could guess. She stroked his back and rocked them back and forth to try and comfort him. "Celtic, I love you-" She softly said. "-but it's time to go. . .we'll see each other again." Celtic finally lifted his head, but his arms still remained around her. He removed the mask and pressed his mandibles to her forehead in a kiss as he let himself shed a few tears into her hair. Then he slipped the mask onto her and pressed his forehead to hers. "I promise, I'll be back soon." Athena reached up and stroked the side of his face as she smiled at him from behind the mask. "I know you will. . ."

Chopper and Lucinda were having much of the same problem.

Chopper once again had Lucinda curled up underneath him on the bed like a child would a teddy bear. She didn't mind it, just this once. She was already having separation anxiety as well. His heavy weight on her was comforting as they cuddled. Arms wrapped around each other, they shared kisses and nuzzles until there was no more time left. With a final kiss to her forehead, Chopper let himself shed tears. "I have to go. . ." He clicked as he cried. Lucinda leaned up and pressed a kiss between his eyes before letting herself cry as well. "I know. . ."

And finally, Lex and Scar.

Scar was sitting on the bed with Lex in his lap. He had a hologram open on his gauntlet and was showing it to her while explaining what it was. "If things work out, we should be back by the time the next mating season starts." He declared as he pointed at his version of a yearly calendar. Lex nodded with the mask on and he continued. "After all of the hunts are over, we'll come back as soon as possible." Lex looked at him before taking off the mask and settling it over his face again. "You better be careful on those hunts." She warned. "Or you wont be getting any part of **me** during the next mating season." Scar let out a chuckle before giving her back the mask. "I'm always careful." He bragged. Lex smiled and lifted the mask off of him so she could kiss his face. "I know. . ."

The final goodbyes, are always the hardest ones.

The end.

* * *

 _Author's note: There will be an **epilogue**! Ok, now translation time:_

- **Chiva:** trial

- **mei'hswei** : brother

- **hulij-bpe:** crazy

- **lou-dte kales:** female/child bearer

- **ooman:** human

- **'awu'asa:** armor

- **syra'yte:** head

- **pyode amedha:** human

- **kiande amedha:** Hard meat/ xenomorph

 _Some things to announce! There will be an epilogue! So this story isn't completely over yet._

 _Secondly, I will be doing a Q &A in the next chapter, so now is the time to ask your questions._

 _Thirdly, you will be receiving some sneak peaks and summaries of two fanfiction projects that I will be taking on soon. Hope you will enjoy them both. Yes, one of them will be the second book to this series._

 _Fourthly, just some insight as an author. I have found that there is just no true satisfying way to do an ending._

 _I shall see you all in the epilogue!_


	50. Epilogue!

It had been a year since Lex had battled alongside Scar and his clan.

To Lex, it felt like several years had passed. The memories happened long ago, but they replayed in her mind as if they had happened recently. From Weyland offering her a spot on the team to Scar saying his goodbyes as he left to go back to his home.

She sighed as she placed another dish in the washer.

Lex, Athena and Lucinda had all gotten a house together close to where Lex's mother lived. They figured it'd be appropriate after what they had all been through together. Thanks to their combined efforts, they managed to put in a payment and had the house in only a few short months. They had stayed at Lex's cabin for three months before returning back to society. None of them had wanted to, but they could only live in that cabin for so long. They had plans to go back there for the summer, but it was still the winter season for them.

Snow piled up outside their house as Lex took her hot coco and walked into the living room.

The fireplace was lit up and the snowy sky outside cast a gray glow on the room that clashed with the natural hues cast by the fire. Lex took a spot on the couch and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders while staring at the outside world through the window.  
Scar had promised to come back around this time, but Lex had no idea when exactly. She was anxious to see her lover again. Though 'lover' didn't quite fit him. He was more than just a lover to her, but they weren't married, and Lex doubted he knew what 'boyfriends' and 'girlfriends' were amongst her kind. She'd probably have to teach him whenever he'd come back.

As she stared off into the distance, a loud bang was heard from the kitchen. The door in the kitchen that led outside into the backyard had been slammed open!

Lex threw off her blanket and rushed to go see what had caused the noise. The back door was wide open and snow was beginning to drift in from the storm outside.  
At first, Lex thought that maybe Athena had been mad and gone outside to cool off. She got frustrated like that sometimes when her cliental were being stubborn mules and would disregard her advice as their doctor. Slamming doors was a common thing with her.

Lex almost convinced herself of that until she saw that the door handle was smashed to bits and there were three trails of snowy footprints coming into the room. Footprints that only showed four toes. . .

The pieces clicked into place just as Lex felt a clawed hand grab her bottom from behind.

She squeaked and was abruptly spun around by the hand holding her bottom. She barely got a glimpse of the humanoid uncloaking himself before she felt Scar press his mandibles to her lips in a kiss. A sound of delight escaped her mouth as she closed her eyes and pressed herself to him. Reaching up, she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and she felt his unoccupied hand wrap around her waist in return. His hand still groping her bottom was quickly causing heat to gather up between her thighs and one leg subconsciously lifted up and clung to his hip on instinct. She shivered from the contact and Scar finally let go of her bottom so he could lift her other leg up and wrap it around his remaining hip.

Scar carried her to the couch and sat down with her in his lap as he hugged her closer to his body.

Lex shivered and broke the kiss to look him in the eyes. She smiled wide and let out a sudden burst of laughter before pressing her forehead to his. "I was beginning to worry that you wouldn't make it." She giggled. Lex felt his mandibles brush her cheeks before she heard him speak in perfect English, surprising her greatly.  
"I told you I would."

Lex blinked and then looked up at him with a stunned face. "Wow. . .you learned fast." She complimented.

Scar chuckled again and then tucked her head under his chin while he held her close. "I've missed you." He breathed, voice so deep and velvety that Lex almost couldn't believe it was his. Especially from only a year before when his English was hard to understand when he spoke it.  
Lex smiled and snuggled him back, tucking herself in even deeper against him. "I've missed you too." She breathed back.  
The fire danced for them that night, giving them a peaceful reunion to talk things over together.

They had plenty of stories to tell each other.

* * *

Chopper had snuck up to Lucinda's room while Scar and Celtic had split off to corner their mates for a much needed surprise.

When he softly opened the door, he found that Lucinda wasn't there. He heard the shower running down the hall and assumed that she was in there instead. He'd just simply wait for her here until she got out of the shower then.

Chopper looked around the room and a mischievous idea came to his mind.

Spotting her bed nearby, he stripped down out of his clothes and armor before hiding the garments under the mattress. He then went and stood behind the door, waiting for his mate to return so he could surprise her in his full glory.

When the door did open, Lucinda stepped in with a towel around her body and a bundle of clothes over her arms.

Her hair was wet and clung to her neck, and droplets of water clung to her skin. Chopper didn't bother to try and keep his thoughts clean as he thought of all of the ways he could 'dry' her off. Tightening his mandibles to keep from groaning at the sight of her, he waited until she had dropped her dirty clothes off by her closet and had let the towel fall to her feet before silently rushing forward.

Lucinda had barely dropped her towel when she felt arms encircle her waist and was lifted off of the ground. She let out a squeak of surprise and fright before she felt a familiar face press against her back and shivered when four mandibles poked at her bottom playfully. She gasped when she realized who it was. "Chopper!" She exclaimed.

Her mate let out a purr of delight before she was turned around to face him. Chopper was smiling up at her as he had her body snuggly hugged against his frame.

Lucinda's lips turned up in a smile and she laughed as well from his antics. "You came!" She squealed when Chopper rubbed his face between her small breasts and then carried her over to the bed. A heated charge came between them and Lucinda didn't say anything more as she and Chopper got busy letting their bodies do the talking instead.

Thirty minutes later, Lucinda was panting hard underneath Chopper and her giant humanoid partner had his head buried into her neck as his body was trembling above her.

Lucinda gasped as she wrapped her arms around his thick neck. "Jeesh Chopper, I just took a shower." She giggled. She heard Chopper click in laughter as well before he rose his head and gently nudged his forehead against hers. "I've missed you." He whispered. Lucinda's eyes went wide when he spoke. "Well. . .you've been learning some things while you've been away." She smiled. Chopper eyed her body hungrily before responding to her remark. "I can show you what else I've learned while I was away if you'll let me." He promised.

Lucinda only had time to squeak in surprise when his mandibles and hands began to make short work of her.

* * *

Athena knew Celtic was in the room with her, she was just pretending not to notice his cloaked figure behind her in the mirror as she pretended to be busy messing with her hair.

It wasn't until his hands reached around and cupped her breasts that she finally gave him the attention he was craving.  
Smiling into the mirror, she reached her arms up behind her and slid her hands around the back of his head, pulling him closer in the process and causing his chin to rest on her shoulder. He finally uncloaked and gave her breasts a teasing squeeze before tittering at her happily. Athena chuckled before turning her head to the side and kissing the flap of skin that stretched between his mandibles.

"I'm glad to see you too." She grinned.

Celtic gave a surprisingly human like sigh before his hands released her breasts and wrapped around her middle instead, pulling her closer as he buried his face into her shoulder. Their bodies rocked back and forth against each other for a moment before either of them spoke. "I'm home." Celtic softly said into her shoulder. Athena's reaction was much the same as Lex and Lucinda's had been, and she turned in his arms to face him. Instead of questioning his growth in her language, she just leaned her face forward and nuzzled his. "So-" She began. "-Is that your way of saying you're moving in?" She was joking, but Celtic answered her honestly. "You are my home."

Athena's heart gave a leap in her chest from his declaration as Celtic pulled her head to his again.

"I have a gift for you." He whispered. Athena tilted her head at him thoughtfully as Celtic reached behind himself and dug around in his bag. He pulled out a leather-bound book seconds later, and handed it to Athena. "It took us forever to find it, but we figured it would help us all if we knew each other's languages." He explained.  
Athena stared at the book as the realization that it was some sort of dictionary popped into her head. Smiling, she kissed Celtic on his 'cheek' again before hugging the book to herself carefully. "Thank you." She softly said.

Celtic simply nuzzled her as they cracked open the book together and began to learn from each other again.

* * *

 **Q &A!**

This Q&A will be answering the questions I got form both my Wattpad readers and my Readers. Enjoy!

Star_Sound: " **I do hope there will be another book.** "  
Answer: There will be a second book.

ElfQueenWarrior: " **Will there be any hybrid babies in that book?** "  
Answer: You shall see. I can guarantee that the topic of babies and the discussion of the possibilities of babies will be brought up.

Guest: " **Please make a happy ending for all them. Make them stay all together and live forever and have children please** "  
Answer: Hehehe, there shall be a second book to answer this.

Mariah: " **aw that's the end to bad they didn't go with them.** "  
Answer: There's a reason for that.

KTCameleon: " **Sad to see it end like this. :/...sooooo...is any one else going to ignore the fact the girls excepted to be life mates to the boys...and they will prob only get to see each twice a year...for the rest of their lives?! Is..is it just me? N-no body else noticed ...ah never mind.  
**

 **Most likely the girls won't show up for mating season due to the new big bad...and our boys have to find them.  
Also none of the other preds caught on to their relationships?! Or the fact that even though the girls helped the clan didn't bother to make them come? Becouse they was successful in almost blowing up their ship and have knowledge on them.**"  
Answer(s): Seeing them twice a year, yes. For the rest of their lives? . . .maybe.  
As for the other predators, they were more focused on repairing the ship than anything. To them, mating with anyone outside of their species is so blasphemous that it's not even thought to be considered possible. They kind of blinded themselves with their own pride in their species.  
As for why they didn't go with them, I honestly didn't want them to. I based this story off the novel and movie of AVP, and I wanted to keep the ending kind of similar on the fact that Lex was marked, but wasn't taken with them. I wanted that to be the same here.

Deidara-Sempai72: " **OMG I WAS BASICALLY SOBBING AT THE END! Was this a fun experience for you to write this? Are you making any new predator fanfics? WHY ARE YOU SO AWESOME!? It's so hard to find a good fanfic of predator these days, thank you for this wonderful story! I'm CRYING!** "  
Answer: First off, thank you for the compliments. Second, yes this was fun to write. I'll admit there were times when I didn't want to because of writer's block or other reasons, but over all this was a fun experience for me. It's the first fanfic I've written in years after quitting from my last ones.  
Also yes, I am making a new predator fanfic. The first three chapters are actually up on my Wattpad account now. It's called Of Monsters, Magic, and Miracles. There will also be a second book to this series as well.  
As for why you think I'm awesome, you the readers will have to answer that. There shall be no bragging from me here.

 **End of Q &A**

* * *

Preview!

 **Of Monsters, Magic, and Miracles** :

" _When the pull of fate calls for your attention, you heed its call._

 _This was the philosophy The Witch lived by whenever she did what she did. When you had the ability to see the future and change it at your will, you had no choice but to respect fate and destiny. She was tied to the very fabric of the universe like Atoms were to matter._

 _And right now, that tie was telling her that her long awaited new found drama was about to begin._

 _Smiling sinisterly from her pocket dimension home that was buried somewhere in reality, The Witch sat up in her webbing bed and slinked to her scrying bowl. Peering in, she muttered under her breath the necessary spells to see whom and what she wanted to see. The opaque liquid in the bowl seemed to hum for a moment before swirling around the bowl in a dazzling whirlpool and then coming to an abrupt stop when it seemed that the swirling would climax. A photographic image of a female homo sapien appeared on the liquid before it quickly changed to a second one. Then three other faces appeared, all the same species. They called themselves Yautja, but The Witch called them something else. . . **stubborn**.  
These three in particular were ones that she had interacted with before on varying levels. Two she met in their dreams, and one she had set up so his face would be damaged and scarred enough to be distinguishable to the homo sapiens._

 _The Witch smiled as a very thrilling story was about to begin before her._ "

This is the end of The Enemy of my Enemy is my Significant Other. Good bye, and I'll see you all in the next book!


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